Echo's Of My Scream
by BM.Real.X7
Summary: An invitation brought them all together to an indoor amusement park. They ignored the warnings thinking of this as a game. Soon enough things went from funny to terrifying. They were stuck in a place where their nightmares come to life. Characters inside.
1. Chapter 1 Warnings

_Why hello there :)_

_Okay, so this is officially the last Night World FanFiction I'm starting until I finish one. Like always, all the main characters are included. They are all humans and well yeah thats all I really need to say. _

_My idea is to make this story kind of scary, but I don't know how that will work out. _

_**I do hope you enjoy it though :)**_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters._

_-o-_

**Echo's Of My Scream**

_-o-_

_An invitation brought them all together to an indoor amusement park. They ignored the warnings thinking of this as a game. Soon enough things went from funny to terrifying. They were stuck in a place where their nightmares came to life._

_-o-_

_Chapter 1; Warnings_

The final bell rang announcing that classes where over until next Monday- but for the students it announced freedom and weekend. Meaning, bags were needed to be packed, plans were needed to be made and homework was needed to be forgotten, all to simply enjoy Saturday, Sunday and what was left of Friday.

Halls were packed with students and bags as minutes passed. Most had decided to go with the simple plan of visiting family members while others just planned on going away for the weekend to enjoy their time with their friends. It was guaranteed that at least 75% of the student would be gone over the weekend, while the remaining 25% -which would be classified as the lazier and boring population of students- would stay in campus.

That 25% either had nowhere to go or they had to much work to worry about. Some students actually preferred staying seeing how with more then half the students gone, the campus would be close to pretty much empty. Having some peace and quite was not a bad idea, specially if you have a lot in your mind.

By the time the sun was already down and the stars and moon started to light up the dark sky, the gates of the campus were being closed. Students had until eight thirty to leave campus because gates were to be closed at exactly nine. From then on, no one could leave or enter, unless of course an emergency. This rule applied to all the days of the week, so on Sunday, they students that had left for the weekend would have to return before nine, or they could simply wait for the next day in which the gates would be open at 10am.

If you were caught trying to sneak out or enter the campus between 9pm and 10am you would be in for a huge punishment decided by the school board- a punishment _they _couldn't afford.

-o-

_Stupid park. _Jezebel thought as she hugged herself while letting the air blow her hair back. She looked straight ahead noticing she was still nowhere near her destination, which was the other side of the park- for now. The fact that it was pitch dark and all she had was a small portable flashlight didn't help to make her little walk easier. The wind had decided to blow harder then usual seeing how a storm was set to come tomorrow late afternoon, but of course she didn't bother thinking about that earlier today when she made up her mind on going in the first place.

She walked at normal speed as she aimed the flashlight towards the ground, making sure she wouldn't trip on anything. _What are you going to trip on Jez, a dead body? _She thought sarcastically as she tightened the grip she had on the flashlight. "I should have taken the bus" she said to herself already feeling uncomfortable with the darkness. _To think a park should have post lights. _She thought to herself while quickening her pace.

She had walked way to many times through this park to even count them, so when she noticed that small hole on the ground she knew right away she was almost out of the park. She relaxed a little deciding to slow her pace as her muscles also relaxed. She was breathing heavily and her throat was starting to burn for the desire of a drink. She cursed for forgetting her water bottle before she heard a faint sound from behind her.

Jez reacted fast turning her head around while she still kept walking. The darkness kept her from seeing anything yet she was still looking behind her as her foot hit a rock causing her to fall. The flashlight went flying out of her hand and when it made contact with the ground it immediately turned off. _Fuck. _Jez cursed as she stood up and went to reach for the flashlight.

Her heart nearly stopped when instead of a flashlight, Jez ended up touching something that seemed to be a shoe. She thought of screaming or maybe just running away, but seeing how the park was deserted and dark she decided both options where useless. Jez stood there frozen as she waited for _something _to happen.

Sure enough, before she knew it, she was closing her eyes because they had been _attacked_ by light- light coming from her flashlight. "Sorry" a deep voice said. She knew right away it was a guy talking seeing how the voice sounded manly. "I didn't mean to scare you- or hurt you" When the burn from her eyes had finally faded she got a chance to look at the owner of the voice.

She had expected an old man with a smirk on his face ready to rape her or something. Instead, she found herself looking at a young boy, probably around her age, with a worried expression. Taken aback Jez took a step backwards while she blinked twice. "I'm not going to hurt you!" the guy quickly exclaimed as he started to look even more worried.

"Uhm, okay" Jez said failing to find any other words. She stared at the guy in front of her for a moment studding him silently before she noticed the small patch on his shirt. "You go to GrayFade?" she asked while pointing at the patch.

He nodded before handing back her flashlight. "Galen Drache" He said while stretching out his hand. "Junior" he said with a smile. "I assume you go there as well?" He asked as Jez shook his hand.

"Jezebel Kai. Junior as well" she told him while nodding. After they shook hands, awkward silence took over. They stood quietly waiting for each other to say something as the wind started blowing leafs all over them. "So what are you doing out here?" Jez finally asked realising she needed to start walking again before she froze to death.

"Oh, uhm" Galen hesitated. "I was actually on my way to this _place, _but I got lost" he explained while rubbing his neck with his right hand.

"Where are you going?" Jez asked as she started playing with her fingers.

"Uhm, I don't really know" he admitted before giving her a small smile. "The street is called vere-something"

"Vereor?" she asked uneasy as she tried to remember where she had seen that name before.

"Yes!" he exclaimed "Do you know where it is?"

"Uhm, not really- but I think…" Jez paused as she pulled out a little paper from her pocket. Once Galen saw the paper his eyes widened before snatching it away from Jez. He scanned through it before giving her a questioning gaze. "What?" she asked confused.

"Looks like we are going to the same place"

-o-

As a cloud passed by covering the moon, five of them stood by the street. The only light they had was coming from a very old looking post light, so apart from that small area near the post light, the place was completely dark. Silence had taken over after they had learned each others names. It wasn't until ten minutes after, that one of the girls _manned _up and started making conversation.

"So you two are not related?" Poppy asked as she pointed towards the two boys in front of her that had the same bored expression on their face.

"Nope" They both said at the same time clearly annoyed at the fact that she would think something like that. "We are not related" said the guy with the ash-blonde hair, also known as Ash.

"Could have fooled me" Hannah, the girl standing besides Poppy said while stretching her arms. Poppy slightly giggled as she crossed her arms feeling the cold breeze.

"Just because we have the same last name, doesn't exactly mean we have to be related" the one with the darker hair -Delos- said while Ash nodded in agreement.

"Oh whatever" Raksha mumbled annoyed already cursing softly, she was mad at herself for being where she was; outside in the cold with a bunch of idiots when she could easily be at her dorm sleeping with the heater on.

"Someone is pms'ing" said a new voice coming from the other side of the street. Raksha turned around to glare at a guy wearing a leather jacket as she heard Delos and Ash chuckle while Poppy and Hannah tried hiding the smile on their face.

"Excuse me?" she asked with annoyance.

"I'm sure you heard me"

Raksha raised her eyebrow before her right hand formed into a fist. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by another voice. "Now, now. No need to start a fight" six heads turned east as a guy came walking towards them with his hands in his pockets and his scarf moving violently thanks to the wind.

"So let me guess" Ash spoke once both the new guys had made their towards the little group he was currently in. "You both go to GrayFade, your Juniors and you're here because you got this interesting invitation promising you would have the most exciting night of you life." The two new guys looked at each other before nodding their heads in unison. "Join the club" Ash said with fake enthusiasm. "I'm Ash Redfern. I'm also a junior at GrayFade just like everyone else" he said gesturing towards the rest of the people around him.

"I'm Morgead Blackthorn" said the guy with the leather jacket as he looked at everyone with a bored expression far to similar to Delos and Ash's expression.

"And I'm David Blackburn" said the guy with the scarf as he nodded politely. No one shook hands seeing how they all had their hands hidden away because of the cold. Instead they just said their names.

"Poppy North"

"Hannah Snow"

"Raksha Keller"

"And I'm Delos Redfern- and no, I'm not related to Ash" He said before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I'm John Quinn" A voice from behind them said as the wind blew harder this time. They all turned around to see a two girls and two boy make their way towards them "We heard everything you said" John said while pointing at Ash. "And you guessed it. Juniors, GrayFade, invitation."

They all nodded greeting the four new members of their little _'group.' _"My name is Thea Harman." said a tall girl with blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Thierry Descouedres" said the other guy giving everyone a warm smile.

"Gillian Lennox" the smallest of the four new members said as she had her arms wrapt around her small body.

Everyone stayed quiet as they looked at each other with pure confusing. No one knew what to say or what to do. They were back to an awkward silence. No one really moved or said anything. But once again, a girl manned up and decided to make conversation. "How come we all go to the same school, yet I've never seen any of you?" Hannah was the one to ask as she looked at everyone for a response.

It was Raksha who had answered her question first. "Well miss _popular_, you may have not seen any of us" Hannah flinched as Raksha spoke every word with pure venom. "But _I _do recall seeing some of you in my classes"

"Yup, same here" David said glancing at everyone before nodding his head. Soon enough everyone had admitted seeing each other on campus, but one thing was certain. This was probably the first time any of them were speaking to each other. "It's kind of weird if you think about it" David commented as he glanced up at the sky.

"How so?" Thierry asked shivering as the cold wind hit his bare neck.

"How all of us don't _actually_ know each other and yet we go to the _same _school- and lets not forget we are all here thanks to an invitation. This is all very suspicious." David explained as some of them nodded while others just shrugged.

"Couldn't agree more" a new voice spoke from the darkness. They turned their heads around from where they were hearing footsteps and soon enough five more people were making their way towards them. "Too suspicious if you ask me" a girl with long black hair and green eyes spoke as she walked next to another girl that had her arms wrapped around her. They both seemed very cold.

"Great, more people" Ash murmured before he introduced everyone that he knew. Some people gave him a surprised stare not believing he had actually remembered all their names.

"I'm Rashel Jordan and this is Mary-Lynnette Carter" She said gesturing towards the girl she was now cuddling with. "She kind of just tripped and bit her tongue so she wont be talking for a while" she explained as Mary-Lynnette gave everyone a smile and a small wave.

"I'm Maggie Neely" said a girl with wavy brown hair who had one arm wrapped around another guys waist as he had his arm around her shoulders.

"Eric Ross"

"And I'm James Rasmussen," the last 'new' guy said before letting out a sigh "assuming no one has said this before. Its actually nice meeting you all" he gave everyone a smile ignoring the comments about him being to nice for his own good made by Maggie.

"I've seen you around" Poppy told James as she shivered once again. "Your in my Law class, right?" James nodded as a response to her answer. "Well its nice meeting you too"

"Okay lets save all the_ love _for later" Rashel begged as she ran a hand through her long dark hair. "For now, can we go inside. Its freezing!"

"We cant. The doors are locked"

-o-

"I think we should turn right" Jez said aiming the flashlight to said direction.

"I think we should turn left" Galen shot back as he had his eyes locked on the other side.

"Well I'm turning ri-shit!" Galen quickly turned around as his eyes searched for Jez. She was on the floor- so he assumed seeing how he could see some movement, the flashlight had turned off.

"You okay?" He asked her as he heard her curse. "You broke the flashlight didn't you?" he didn't wait for her to answer seeing he knew he was right. He took out his cell-phone, which was going to turn of soon seeing how the battery was very low, and clicked the unlock bottom so the light came shinning out of the small device. He walked towards Jez and helped her get up. "How did you fall?"

"This tripped me" she explained casually as she showed Galen a small key that was on her hand.

"A key tripped you?" Galen asked raising an eyebrow, but before Jez could answer they heard someone shout.

"Anyone there?" the voice was deep and a little shaken, but it sounded trustworthy so Galen decided to yell back.

"Yup" Soon enough a guy with a leather jacket was standing next to Galen with a lighter on his hand.

"My name is Morgead" the guy told them before smirking "Let me guess. You two are juniors and happen to go to GrayFade, right?" Jez and Galen shared a look of confusion before nodding their heads. "Come with me" They followed Morgead who led them through a small path between two buildings that were located on the right side of the street they were currently at.

As soon as they got to the other side of the path, Jez and Galen were able to see a faint light coming from the far side of the street. As they got closer they noticed a bunch of people standing around that area. "Found two more" Morgead said as he went to sit next to a guy with ash-blonde hair. Ash quickly introduced everyone -still gaining shocked stares from some of the guys- before Galen and Jez introduced themselves.

"Well-" Poppy was about to explain the situation but she had stopped talking as soon as the light from the post-light turned off and a new light turned on. A light coming from the building in front of them. A building that had a sign written with red paint right above the door. 'Welcome' It said, but none of them felt very welcomed. They stared at the building in silence for a while before Mary-Lynnette started coughing.

"Its getting way to cold" Galen announced looking rather nervous.

"If only we could go inside" mumbled Hannah as she rubbed her hands together.

"We _cant_ go inside?" Jez asked getting annoyed. "Why?"

"Door is locked" David told her as he pulled out a pack of gum from his pocket. He offered the group gum, some took a piece whiles others just shook their heads.

Galen gave Jez a look before he asked out loud "Do you think it will work?" They all gave both of them questioning gaze as Jez showed everyone the key she was holding. "It wouldn't hurt to try"

"Where did you get that?" Thea asked suspicious, Jez simply shrugged before explaining how she tripped on the key while walking. No one said anything as Delos took the key from Jez and walked towards the door.

"Hmm" he said while looking for lock. "this is stupid…" he mumbled annoyed after giving up on searching for a lock that clearly didn't exist. He leaned on the door and before he could reacted the door had opened forcing him to fall. He immediately stood up cursing as he rubbed the arm he landed on. "I thought you said it was locked!" He yelled at Raksha who was trying to hide a smile.

"It was." She said as she made her way towards him. "Remember we all tried opening it before" she reminded him as she stood in front of the wide open door. The others had also made their way towards the building.

"Shall we go in?" John asked as he looked inside the building. After a couple of whines and irrelevant comments about how creepy the building looked -mostly coming from the girls- they decided to go inside seeing how it was getting way too cold. Gillian and Thierry suggested just to head back to campus, but the majority voted against that idea seeing how the gates would be closed by now. That was the main reason why everyone was still there in the first place.

They all walked in following Delos who had been the first one to step foot in that building, Maggie and Eric where the last ones to walk in. Once everyone was inside Thierry decided to close the door because of the wind, but he never got the chance to because the door slammed closed by itself right before Thierry even touched it. "Weird" he mumbled before looking around the room they were currently in.

"What now?" James asked out loud to no one in particular.

Gillian was the one to answer after she shrugged. "We are all here because of the invitation right?" she asked as everyone nodded. "Well then what did it say?" she questioned as she looked around to see everyone looking rather confused. After asking if anyone had the invitation, John pulled it out before everyone else so he read it out loud;

"_Not many dare, not many will. For we know what you hide, we know what you fear." _As John finished reading the first line of words on the top of the page a candle placed on the wall of a hallway straight ahead turned on. He ignored the light as he continued reading. _"Come, we plea, for fun we will give" _another candle turned on, this time it was further down the hall. _"a night to enjoy, full of memories to keep" _another candle turned on, but instead of being on the wall, it was placed on a small table that was located right next to a black door. "Then at the bottom it gives us the address" John concluded as he focused his eyes on the hall in front of him.

No one had paid attention to John, because they didn't need to. The invitation had been so short that in the back of their minds they still remembered it from the first time they read it, instead as John had read the invitation out loud they all had their attention on the hall. They had failed to notice it earlier seeing how there hadn't been any lights. But as the three candles started lighting up, they were able to focus their curious eyes towards the only visible hallway.

Poppy was staring straight at the black door located at the end of the hall. From where she stood, she could notice some words carved on the door. Without thinking she started walking towards it, ignoring the faint warning coming from one of the girls.

Morgead and Delos had shared an amused smile before they followed Poppy towards the door. "What does it say?" asked Hannah who stood far away from the hall leaning against a wall. Next to her was Maggie and Eric who just like Hannah had decided to stay where they were. Rashel, Mary-Lynnette and Raksha stood in the middle of the hallway keeping a safe distance from the door just like James, Gillian and Thierry who stood behind them. Everyone else was near the door.

"Warning" Morgead read in a mocking tone "once you enter there is no way out until the _end. _You may only enter if all are together."

"The end?" Mary-Lynnette asked while taking her cell-phone out. "Does any one have a cell phone I can borrow? Mine just died" she explained as she waited for someone to offer their cell-phone.

"I would let you use mine" Ash spoke as he looked at his phone that he pulled out from his pocket. "But apparently its not working"

"My battery just died- it was fully charged thirty minutes ago!" Thea exclaimed as she continuously kept pressing the on/off button on her phone.

Galen glanced at his phone already knowing it was probably dead. He watched as everyone around him pulled out their phones. They all ended up with the same expression after they tried turning the phones on. "Looks like we wont be able to make any calls"

"Okay, I'm officially disturbed" Maggie spoke as she made her way to the main entrance door with Eric following right behind her. "I'm out of here" she said grabbing the handle on the door. To her dismay when she tried pulling the door open, it didn't even move an inch. Eric gave it a shot as well, but just like Maggie he failed. "Great" she yelled while crossing her arms.

"This is getting rather stupid" Hannah mumbled as she went to stand next to Maggie. "All this is just… _too much. _I'm starting to think this is all a stupid joke- a prank"

"Agreed" said Rashel as she looked around. "now the question is, who is the idiot behind the prank"

No one said anything as they looked at each other. Morgead was the one to receive most of the glares so he ended up getting annoyed. "Stop looking at me!" he snapped before rolling his eyes. "Why would I try to pull of a prank on you people? I barely even know you!"

Gillian, who had been one of the people glaring at Morgead shrugged before trying to reason with Morgead "It's just that you seem like the type to pull something like that" Rashel and Raksha nodded in agreement before Morgead snapped again causing an argument to start.

"Oh boy" Eric sighed as he leaned against the entrance door. He was watching in amusement as the argument between Morgead, Rashel, Gillian, Raksha- and now Ash, John and David got bigger by the second. "we are getting nowhere with this"

"You think?" Maggie questioned sarcastically as she leaned her head on Eric's shoulder.

"Are you two dating?" Hannah asked trying to ignore the shouting happening behind her.

"Nope, we just met like thirty minutes ago" Eric chuckled as he saw Hannah's expression change from curiosity to confusion. "We both took the bus to get here. It was a fifteen minute ride, so we talked for a while."

"We both hate my ex-boyfriend, so we became best friends" Maggie concluded Eric's little story as Hannah giggled. "Plus, we both play soccer"

"Interesting" Hannah cooed as the shouting coming from the other guys slowly faded. "What happened?" she asked as she noticed everyone staring towards the direction of the black door.

"I opened the door" Delos said casually as Hannah's eyes fell on the lock under the handle. The key Jezebel had found was in it. Delos pushed the door opened as it revealed a dark room.

"Are we going in?" James asked after a moment of silence.

"Are you crazy?" Poppy cried out. "Can you not read the big warning sign?" she pointed at the now open black door "I think it was carved there for a reason"

"Get realistic" Raksha told her while walking towards the door. "Clearly this is all a stupid joke" she stated as she stopped to stand right in front of the dark room in front of her. "We came here to have _'fun', _right?" she asked everyone as one by one they nodded in agreement. "So, my guess is that this is the way to our _'fun'_"

"I have a bad feeling about this" Gillian murmured nervously while she eyed the dark room. She didn't like this what so ever. "Its so dark in there"

"Come on guys" Thierry spoke as he made his way towards Raksha "She is right, what's the worst that could happen? I mean, its not like we are in a horror movie or something"

"Or something" Galen mused as he gave Maggie, Eric and Hannah a questioning gaze. They were the ones further away from the dark room.

"I'm not going in there" Maggie stated as she shook her head. "You guys can go"

"We cant" Delos announced annoyed. "Remember, the sign, we must all go together"

"Oh, so now your acknowledging the sign" Poppy snapped crossing her arms.

They all talked over it for a while. Delos, Thierry, Raksha and David ended up convincing everyone who didn't feel comfortable entering the room to enter it for the sake of the people who did want to go in. Everyone was convinced- everyone but Maggie.

"I rather just go back to GrayFade" she said not moving from where she stood alone. Eric and Hannah had already made their way towards the dark room.

"Can you go drag your girlfriend here, _please?" _Delos begged Eric already losing all his patience.

"She is not my girlfriend" Eric corrected him before facing Maggie "Come on, we are waiting for you" he called out while Maggie shook her head.

"Ugh! Annoying brat" Delos exclaimed as he made his way towards her. Maggie was about to open her mouth to yell at him for calling her a brat but before she knew it she was getting picked up and thrown over his shoulder as he ran back to where the other stood with amused expressions. "Lets go" Delos ordered ignoring the screaming coming from Maggie who was hitting his back _hard._

"Okay" Raksha said stretching out the 'ay' before she walked inside the room while everyone followed her. Once all of them were inside the black door closed and the lights in the room turned on. The room was completely empty.

"You fucking asshole!" Maggie yelled as Delos finally put her down. "What gives you the fuckin-"

"Welcome" Maggie was cut short as a new voice interrupted her. Everyone's head shot up to see a small plasma TV hanging on the wall. The TV showed a straight line that went horizontally through the middle of the screen. Every time the new voice spoke the line moved making some sort of waves. "We are glad you are here" the voice was cold and rough, a _male's_ voice. "this is your last warning."

"Last warning my ass" Hannah yelled as she tried opening the black door. "We are locked in here!"

"Don't leave any behind. Don't get lost in their lies. Don't give up until the last second. _Don't get attached." _with that said the monitor turned off leaving dead silence.

"Warning? Sounded more like suggestions" Thierry mused as he looked around the room after getting tired of the silence. "What now?" he asked noticing everyone was still standing quietly probably completely ignoring him.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take" They all turned to stare at Mary-Lynnette who had said those words with a whisper. She was staring straight at the floor and when everyone followed her gaze, they noticed the words were written all over the floor with red paint.

"Shit" was the last word heard before darkness took over.

-o-

_Longest first chapter I have ever written so I got lazy to double check it, sorry if any mistakes. Anyways,_

_Delete?_

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_-Maria_

_God Bless you All. _

_Ps; this story won the little poll on my profile._

_Next chapter: Nyctophobia_


	2. Chapter 2 Nyctophobia

_Hello :)_

_Miss me? I missed you!_

_Woo, anywho. Thank you soooo much for all the reviews! You guys are more then amazing._

_Here is chapter two. I hope you guys enjoy it!_

-o-

_Disclaimer: I dont own the characters._

_Chapter 2; Nyctophobia_

She didn't want to open her eyes.

She knew what she would see- or more like, what she wouldn't see. She knew what was waiting for her and even just the thought terrified her.

So she didn't move. She sitting on the floor. Her hands were hugging her knees as she pressed them harder to her chest. Her head was bowed down as her forehead rested on her knees. Tears were already running down her cheeks and her breathing was heavy. She wanted to call out for help but her trembling lips wouldn't open.

Gillian Lennox was afraid, because she knew what was waiting for her if she opened her eyes;

Complete darkness.

-o-

"I hate you- oh goddess _I hate you!_" Maggie whispered while tightening her grip on Delos' arm. "I shouldn't be here. This is all your fault!"

Delos simply rolled his eyes as he kept walking down the hallway sucking up the pain he was feeling on his right arm thanks to Maggie's hands_. Out of all people, I had to be stuck with her. _He thought before Maggie crashed her head on his back. "Ow" he hissed before stopping. "What's wrong?"

"I felt something move behind me" she whispered not moving her head from his back. "Do you see anything?"

Delos wanted to tell her that it was impossible for him to see anything seeing how it was pitch dark, but he decided not to. Maggie actually looked scared, so why piss her off? "I don't see anything, maybe your imagination" he felt Maggie shake her head.

He gave out a heavy sigh before turning around so he could face her. He put one hand on her shoulder and then with his other hand he grabbed her chin so he could lift her head up. Once they locked eye contact- so he assumed seeing how he couldn't really see her face- he spoke to her softly and gently, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry, okay? I wont let anything bad happen to you"

Maggie was taken aback by his words so she just froze and waited for him to say anything else, but he was waiting for her to talk. They stayed quiet for a minute before Maggie was finally able to nod her head. He smiled, knowing she wouldn't be able to see him, and removed both his hands from her. "Okay, I think we should keep walking until we find a way out of this place or something. Okay?"

Maggie mumbled and agreement as she grabbed his arm once again. Delos focused his eyes on the direction in front of him, not really seeing anything before he took a step forward. That's when that door appeared. It was a red door that was only visible because of the light coming from the bottom and top of the door. The door was right in front of them- which only got Delos confused.

_How did I not see it before? _He thought remembering seeing the dark hallway- he definitely didn't see a door before. "Should we go in?" Maggie asked while her grip on Delos' arm tightened even more.

"I think we don't really have an option"

-o-

The five of them stood staring at the red door with the same thought in their heads; _How did that get there? _A minute ago, the hallway was empty- apart from the five of them of course. There wasn't even any paintings or windows- or _anything, _in the hallway, just them. And now, out of nowhere, the red door pops up right in front of them.

"Should we knock?" Mary-Lynnette was the one to ask breaking the silence.

John not caring what the others thought about Mary-Lynnette's idea knocked on the door. He waited thirty seconds before knocking again, but nothing happened. After knocking a third time he sighed before saying; "Nobody is home"

"Great, open the door" Morgead suggested while two pair of eyes looked at him with disbelief.

"Are you insane?" Hannah exclaimed "Did you forget what happened the last time we opened a door?"

"The TV started talking to us before you read a creepy prayer and then he all fell asleep" David answered Hannah's question as she rolled her eyes. " And then we woke up in this hallway" he added before Hannah clapped her hands together.

"Exactly. Something bad." she got confused looks from everyone so she decided to clarify; "My guess is that if we open that door, something bad might happen- actually, I'm ninety percent sure, something bad _will _happen"

John and Morgead both thought over what Hannah said seeing how both had planned to open the door. Mary-Lynnette stood next to Hannah as she kept looking around trying to find another way out of the hallway. It was David who had walked up to the door and opened it without warning.

"Are you stupid!" Hannah yelled as he pushed the door wide open. Mary-Lynnette looked amused as both Morgead and John complained they wanted to be the ones to open the door. David shrugged in response to Hannah's comment and walked pass the door. Soon after Morgead and John followed right before Mary-Lynnette grabbed Hannah and dragged her through the door.

As soon as they were all inside, the door closed. Neither of them bothered to look back seeing how their attention was completely focused on the new _room- _if they could call it that. "What-the-fuck" John mumbled as he looked around.

It was a park- an amusement park- fuck, better yet, an _indoor _amusement park. Hannah could see the ceiling way up high, almost forty inches away from the highest rollercoaster. She gulped. "What is this?"

"Amusement Ortus; Vereor" the answer to Hannah's question came from Thierry. He was standing by what seemed to be the entrance of the park with Raksha. "At least, that's what this sign says"

They made their way towards Thierry and Raksha as they kept looking around. They were all surprised and confused. They had no idea how an amusement park this big fit in the building they had entered- what was more of a surprise was that they had never heard of this amusement park. A park this big and well, fun-looking, should be very popular. Yet no one recalled ever hearing of Amusement Ortus; Vereor.

"How did you guys get here?" Morgead asked as he stood next to Thierry.

"We both woke up in a hallway. It was dark, and we seemed to be the only ones there. We walked for a while until this red door appeared. We went through it and yeah" Raksha told the little story before pointing towards the direction she said the red door was. Sure enough there was a red door, way to similar to the one Morgead recalled going through.

"Where is everyone else?" John asked ignoring the small uncomfortable feeling he felt on his stomach.

"Don't know." Raksha stated before taking a few step forward to the entrance. "All I know is that I plan on examining this place- I haven't been on a rollercoaster in a while"

Mary-Lynnette asked herself if Raksha was crazy. She couldn't believe that after everything that happened, she only cared about going on a rollercoaster. That made her mad- but what made her furious is that everyone seemed to agree with Raksha. She could see the little spark in their eyes, they were all looking around at some rides, probably already planning on which one to go on first. Even Hannah had her eyes on the arcade.

She was about to say something about everyone's inconsiderate behaviour but she decided against it because something caught her attention. Far ahead she saw a small little sign that made her heart twist with some uncomfortable feeling. "What does that say?" She asked out loud as she pointed towards the sign.

It was David that read the sign out loud. "Nyctophobia; Key 1" he bit his lip. "I feel weird"

"Agreed" Both Thierry and Morgead said in unison while they started to follow Raksha, who was already walking towards the sign. Hannah and Mary-Lynnette both followed soon after just like David and John.

"There is a key glued on the back of the sign" Raksha mused as she went to reach for it. When her fingers nearly touched the key the sign went on fire. "Whatthefuck!" she yelled pulling back her hand.

"That was weird" John stated before focusing his eyes on Mary-Lynnette, who at the moment, happened to be trembling "Are you okay?" He asked her but she didn't even bother looking at him- in fact her eyes were focused on something behind him. John slowly turned around to follow her gaze. He found what she was looking at- and to say he was freaked out, would have been an understatement.

"Holy shit"

_-o-_

"We walked around to whole place and found seven red doors" Rashel informed Jezebel, Galen and Eric as her and James walked towards them. "We walked through one of the doors, and I assume you guys walked through another door. That leaves five"

"Maybe the others?" Eric suggested before Rashel nodded. "So, this means all" he paused as he tried to remember everyone he met outside the building. "eighteen of us are in this amusement park?"

"We most belief. Yes" James answered while Rashel nodded.

"Great, so should we look for them?" Galen suggested while glancing around the park. He had an urge to run towards that one rollercoaster, but decided that the fun had to wait.

"Yeah, Might as well" They all nodded in agreement before they headed towards the park.

They had to locate the entrance first, because around the whole park, there where high gates with sharp glass at the top. Rashel had discovered the 'room' they were in was shaped like a heptagon, a red door was in every side. They had no idea how big the room was, but both James and Rashel confirmed it was pretty big seeing how they had at least walked a good half an hour before they had passed every door. The ceiling was way up high, they could barely manage to see it. But it was there.

As they walked, Jezebel brought up an interesting fact. She mentioned how when she saw the building for the first time, she thought it had only two floors. It didn't look that big, specially not big enough to have an amusement park. They decided not to over think the situation. Galen even brought up the fact that a part in his mind was making him believe this was all just a dream.

They all wished it was.

"Hey, isn't that…" Eric trailed of having forgotten the names of the people he was seeing already.

"I recognize that ash-blonde hair anywhere. It's to bright not too" mumbled Rashel.

"Hey!" Poppy yelled out as she saw the group of people approaching them. She waved her hand, calling them over. Once they reached where she stood she asked them all their names again, this time making a mental note on not forgetting. "Isn't this place…creepy?" she asked as Thea and Maggie- both girls standing beside her- nodded.

"Somewhat" James agreed while looking around. "Did you guys see the others?"

Ash -who was sitting next do Delos on the ground- shrugged before he answered James' question. "Nope" he popped his 'p' "I woke up next to Thea and Poppy in this hallway, we walked for a while in search of you guys before this red door appeared. After hours- and I'm not exaggerating- of debating, Poppy and Thea allowed me to open the door. We walked in to find this" Ash stretched out his arms as he looked around. "after, I think, twenty minutes, we found Delos and Maggie" he added before looking at Delos who nodded in agreement.

"Maggie and I also came in through a red door. We searched for everyone for at least thirty minutes until we found them" he gestured towards Ash, Thea and Poppy.

Galen told them everything they knew so far. He also told them how they ended up here, and how James and Rashel had walked around the whole room and found those seven red doors.

"Well what now?" Ash asked looking around. "I suggested going on some rides, but I almost got my head chopped off as Thea and Poppy completely freaked out over that idea"

"I don't know if you've notice this Ash, but some pretty freaky things have been happening. How can you trust any of these rides?" Rashel asked him but he barely managed to shrug as an answer.

"I want to go on some rides" Jez spoke up. "I mean, they look like fun"

"I agree" James.

"Same" Eric.

"Exactly!" Ash exclaimed as he stood up.

"Look" Thea hissed "I'm not letting any of you in any of the rides- because A, they are not safe and B, if you haven't noticed, nobody is here to make them work."

"And who are you to stop us?" Delos asked while standing up. "Everything that has happened so far is pretty fucked up." he stated the obvious. " I think we deserve some fun- and lets not forget the invitation. I came here tonight, to have fun"

Thea resisted the urge to slap him before she started verbally assaulting him. An argument started as everyone started to speak out their feelings about the whole situation. It wasn't until five minutes later that Rashel managed to get them all to shut up.

"So immature!" she growled before crossing her arms " Look, how about we find the others and _then _go on the rides"

_-o-_

She thought she heard voices. People whispering to each other- or where they singing? She couldn't tell. _Maybe if I open my eyes- _no. She knew what was out there. She knew what she would see if she opened her eyes. Not people whispering or singing. Not anything- therefore she had to keep them closed.

For her own sake.

Because she feared what she would see if she opened her eyes. Ever since she was little, she has feared. That's why she would carry her flashlight everywhere- but for some reason, that flashlight was not in her pocket. She thought it could have been on the ground near her- but she wasn't going to check. No, she wouldn't move. That's what her cousin had told her. If she was afraid, not to move. Because moving would only make you realise how true your fear was- even though she knew exactly how real it was. So she stayed on the ground with her forehead leaning on her knees. She sobbed quietly as she waited for help- she hoped for help actually, because nothing could really tell her if she was going to get any.

Not from her cousin, because he died. Poor Gary, at the age of sixteen, he had a horrible accident- an accident that had left her so _alone. _

She wasn't going to get help from her parents either, because they never cared. Not once did they ever hug her when she cried. Not once did they ever help her when she trembled. Not once did they ever check for that monster under the bed or inside the closet.

That's why her fear had grown.

It grew so much, and she hadn't even realised until right now. Where all she could do is cry and curse herself for not getting help any sooner. _Stupid Gillian. Always so Stupid…and weak. _

She knew that by thinking that nothing would change, but she couldn't help herself. Plus, who was going to stop her? No one. Because she was alone, alone in the darkness.

Alone in her phobia.

_-o-_

"She is not reacting to anything" John stated after he had slapped Gillian softly on the cheek.

"Maybe you should hit her harder" Raksha suggested but John refused with the excuse that he was thought of not hitting a girl. "Ill do it" with a sigh, Raksha slapped Gillian at least two times- hard. But like before, she didn't even move.

"She is breathing, and she doesn't seem to be hurt in any way" Mary-Lynnette explained after she studied Gillian's Body. "No cuts, no anything. I don't know why she wont react."

"Hey look" Thierry spoke up while pointing south. "The others" he said before calling them over. It took the five minutes to notice Thierry, but soon enough the rest of the little 'group' made their way towards them.

"What happened?" Rashel- David assumed- asked before kneeling down besides him. David had picked up Gillian from that table they had found her on in a bridal way. He then had sat on the ground still holding her, so her head was resting on his left arm as her legs rested on his right arm. Her butt was almost touching the ground.

"We found her like this" Hannah informed them. "We tried everything to wake her up- but she wont"

"She is sleeping?" Jezebel asked amused.

"We don't know, she could be unconscious"

"Did you try throwing some water on her?" Ash asked, David nodded.

"How about slapping her?" This time John nodded to Rashel's question.

"Did you try sitting her up and pushing her side ways? You know how the feeling of falling wakes anybody up" Delos explained before Morgead nodded.

"We tried everything"

"Did you try kissing her awake?" A couple of people rolled there eyes before they looked at Poppy giving her an annoyed look. Either way, everyone was staring at her with disbelief. "What, you said you tried everything!"

"Really? Kissing her awake?" John asked completely annoyed with Poppy. "Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind volunteering, but really? Kissing, Poppy? We are not in a fairytale!"

"I know that!"

"Then don't ask stupid questions!"

"Okay!" shouted James. "Lets not start a fight here. Priority right now is to wake Gillian up"

_-o-_

The voices.

She kept hearing them. All though, this time there were more.

She didn't know what they were saying, she could barely pick up a word. The voices were whispering all around her and it was making her feel even more uncomfortable. Her heart was already beating fast enough- could they hear it? The owners of the voices. Could they hear her heart? Or her sobs? Or was she imagining the voices. Was she growing another fear?

_Know that!_

Her heart nearly stopped when she heard those two words. The first clear words- and the voice that spoke them was somewhat familiar. _I'm going crazy_. She thought as she listened closely for another word.

_Then don't ask…_

It was meant to be a sentence- she knew that, but the voice speaking it had trailed off. Oddly enough, she did recognize that other voice as well. In fact, the voices she heard, were all oddly familiar to her.

_But why? _She asked herself and then the answer came to her.

_-o-_

"I think I might know what's wrong" Mary-Lynnette's voice seemed to calm everyone a little. They looked at her waiting for her to elaborate on what she had said. "I think she is traumatized"

"Traumatized?" Rashel repeated the word before looking at Gillian. "Could be"

"I think you guys are getting way ahead of yourselves" Ash commented as he shook his head.

"Well then. What is your verdict?" Mary-Lynnette asked while raising an eyebrow. She crossed her hands and tapped her foot as she waited for Ash to say something.

"I think she is Nyctophobic" Ash stated casually.

"What makes you think that?" Maggie asked while biting her nails.

"The sign" Ash had both his hands on his pocket so with his elbow he gestured towards the sign that Mary-Lynnette had spotted before any of them in the first place. "Nyctophobia; Key 1" he read it for all of those who couldn't see it.

"Nyctophobia? But that doesn't explain why she wont react to anything."

"I saw this in a TV show!" Morgead exclaimed happily. "In the show, people were hypnotized into believing their biggest fear was coming true."

"Hypnotized? You think she is hypnotized?" Jezebel asked amused before actually considering Morgead's explanation. "You know, he might be right."

"So, what should we do? How do you un-hypnotize someone?" Raksha asked while making air quotations.

"Snap your fingers?" John suggested before doing it. Nothing happened.

"Maybe a secret phrase?" Morgead mused "That's how they brought them back in the TV show"

"I cant believe we are listening to a TV show" Hannah mumbled before everyone started saying different phrases.

"Wake up baby"

"Open the eyes!"

"Come back?"

"Waky, waky!"

David had to control the urge of rolling his eyes. _This was not going to work_.

_-o-_

The voices were so clear now, that she could actually match them with the names she remembered.

"_Wake up baby" _Morgead…

"_Open the eyes!" _Rashel…

"_Come back?" _Thea…

"_Waky, waky" _she wanted to roll her eyes, Ash.

They were here- wherever here was. Or where they? If she opened her eyes, would she see them? Or would she see what she feared.

"_Gillian, open your eyes" _She bit her lip as she tried recalling the name of the owner of the voice. _"Open your eyes" _He. It was a he, because of the deepness of the voice, definitely a male. But the way he spoke, so gentle- so soft. Like if he was _actually _whispering those words. Gillian didn't know what was happening, but that voice had a pull on her. It reminded her of something- of someone… it reminded her of-

Gary.

"_I don't want to open my eyes, Gary! It's dark! You know I hate the dark!"_

"_Come on cuz, the dark wont do anything to you"_

"_No! It's dark and I wont see anything- I don't like it!"_

Gillian's heart beat quickened just like her breathing. _Oh god. _That childhood memory passed her mind as she kept hearing that call. _"Open your eyes Gillian" _That voice. It surprised her how much it sounded like Gary- so much like her dead cousin. But she knew it wasn't Gary- she knew who it was actually.

_David Blackburn. _She almost wanted to laugh as she remembered the last name. But she couldn't laugh. No, because her body was trembling so hard, that she simply couldn't laugh.

"_Come on Jill! Open you eyes!" …_Gary

"_Gillian! Open your eyes!" …_and David.

_Oh, I'm definitely going insane. _She thought to herself as she started to clutch her knees tighter.

"_Open your eyes cuz, the dark wont do anything to you!" _She heard Gary's typical mocking tone. But then, his tone changed as he spoke two more words. _"I'm here"_

"_We are here Gillian. Open your eyes"_

She froze for a second, questioning her sanity once again before her mouth slowly opened. She thought over what to say seeing how a thousand words kept flashing through her mind. At the end though, she decided to whisper one simple word. A word she only said when she meant it. A word she had said back then when Gary had told her to open her eyes because he was there. Such a simple word…

"Okay"

And she did. She opened her eyes. Slowly, but she opened them. Her heart beating faster every time her eye-lids moved a simple centimeter, because her mind kept telling her what she would find. It kept reminding her what she would see if she opened her eyes.

Darkness. Complete darkness- pitch black darkness.

It terrified her, but then again that was what her mind was telling her. Her heart though, it kept telling her she would see his face.

And that's what she saw- all though for a moment she doubted it. She thought she saw Gary- but that was impossible. She may be crazy, but not stupid. Gary was dead, so in the end, her violate eyes found David's face, and soon after, everyone else's face- oh goddess, he was right.

_They were here._

_-o-_

_That is it :)_

_I hope you liked it! And I also hope I was clear explaining stuff. Sorry if any mistakes._

_Review?_

_Please?_

_-Maria_

_**God Bless You All!**_

_Ps; I have a new poll :) and feel free to check out my other stories! _

_Aslo, Nyctophobia, if you havent figured it out is when you are afraid of the dark. _

_Next Chapter: Pyrophobia_


	3. Chapter 3 Pyrophobia

_Helloooowww :) _

_How are you guys? Woo, _

_Okay, I know its been a while. I'm really sorry, its just that this month- and possible the next- I will be very busy. I dont get much time to myself, so I dont have much time to update and all. I'm still very inspired to work on all my stories so dont worry though._

_Here is chapter 3! thank you guys for all the reviews and support! _

_Enjoy :)_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot._

_-o-_

_Chapter 3; Pyrophobia_

She looked from face to face trying to read their expressions, but she was having no luck. Sighing, Gillian sat up already knowing David's legs and arms were numb. After stretching her hands she stood up completely, cleaning herself up from any dust. She mouthed a thank you to David before he stood up and gave her a smile.

"Welcome" he said before stretching out his legs and arms. "Well, what now?" he asked putting his hands in his pockets.

"We wait, I guess" Ash was the one to answer looking tired. Hannah had asked him if he got any sleep before he came, and he had said he slept the whole day. Everyone was amused by that. "I don't think they will take that long anyways"

After Gillian had awakened, Raksha had demanded explanations. Gillian had explained everything she felt and thought- and of course she had to tell them all about her phobia, even though they seem to have known already. After Gillian finished her little story, they had sat for twenty minutes completely quiet trying to figure out a good explanation for everything. Eventually, Jezebel got tired and hungry.

She suggested that some of them should go looking for food and drinks while the rest stayed and thought over the situation. Apart from her, Eric, Galen, Raksha, Delos, Morgead, Thierry, and Rashel had left. They went in different directions and agreed to be back after an hour. The rest of them wouldn't move from were they stood. Thirty minutes had already passed and none of them had returned yet, they still had another thirty minutes, but by now, most of them were already loosing hope that there was actually food anywhere in the amusement park.

"What's this?" Gillian asked breaking the silence between them all. She had her attention on the sign that had informed everyone about her phobia. But, Gillian's eyes were focused on the back of the sign, where the key was glued on. Raksha had tried taking it, but when her hand was nearly an inch away, the sign had gone on fire.

"Hey, don't touch that!" David yelled but it was too late. Gillian had already reached for the key and her hand had already touched it. She took it off the sign before examining it. "how the…" David mused.

"It has a note" Gillian mumbled before Ash took the key away from her. He examined it while Gillian read the note out loud. _"Walk" _Gillian huffed. "That's what it says, walk"

"I think you should keep the key" James said after looking at the key Ash was holding. John and Hannah nodded in agreement. "Might be useful eventually"

"Hey look" Mary-Lynnette spoke up while pointing south. "I think that's Morgead and Rashel"

"Wonderful, they aren't carrying anything. Which means I'm going to have to starve" Ash growled as he gave Gillian back the key before he put both his hands in his pockets.

"Is that all you think about? Food and Sleep?" Mary-Lynnette asked raising her eyebrow.

"Who said anything about sleep?"

"You didn't have to, your face gives it away"

"Wonderful, how long have you been staring at me" Ash smirked as he got closer to Mary-Lynnette.

"Enough to see you have nothing special- which wasn't long"

"And here I thought you two were mature" Morgead mused as him and Rashel kept walking towards them.

"Did you guys find anything?" John asked hoping that they had found a lot of things that couldn't be carried, but deep inside he knew Morgead and Rashel had no luck.

"Rides, rides and more rides" Rashel hissed. "I couldn't even find a washroom!"

"Guess you'll have to stick with a bottle" Ash mumbled.

"That would be great!" Sarcastically, Rashel spoke. "If I had a bottle!" the sarcasm was clearly heard but Ash didn't care.

Morgead continued to explain everything him and Rashel had seen. He had also explained how everyone had decided to go in small groups around the park. The part Morgead and Rashel had explored had apparently been the area with all the rides. Morgead was sure that the direction Thierry, Galen and Raksha took off too, had the food.

"What if we don't find any food" Poppy asked after a small argument Ash and Mary-Lynnette had started again. "I've seen this happen in movie, after a couple days of not eating the people go insane and they start seeing each other as food" she looked terrified "I don't want to eat any of you!"

"I wouldn't mind giving you a bite" Morgead mumbled with a wink making Poppy roll her eyes. Maggie laughed before assuring Poppy that they wouldn't have to kill each other for food.

"What about water?" Thea asked finally speaking since Gillian woke up. "Will we find water?"

-o-

"I think we've been walking in circles." Stopping and crossing her arms, Jez announced. "I told you we should've gone the other way" she frowned while giving Delos a glare.

He shrugged before returning a glare. "You didn't have to follow me if you thought this was the wrong way"

"I didn't think. I _knew_"

"More of a reason why you shouldn't have followed me." Delos hissed before turning his head around to face Eric. "What do you think?"

Eric stood there thinking for something to say that wouldn't seem like he was siding with either Jezebel or Delos. Finally he decided to give Delos a simple answer. "I think we should head back. Maybe the others found something, plus its almost been an hour."

Both Delos and Jez glared at him before frowning. They rolled their eyes in unison- which Eric thought was freaky- before both agreed that it was a good idea to head back. Unfortunately, then came the discussion of which way they should take back. Jez and Delos entered an argument as one pointed east and the other west. They kept yelling at each other- and heck, it reminded Eric a lot of the way he argues with his sister, Rosamund.

Eric stood silent as he watched them yell at each other. They tried to get him in the argument once or twice but he had simply ignored them. It seemed that hours were passing as he looked around the amusement park, waiting for them to shut up. He stared at some of the rides for a while, thinking of how much fun it would be to go on a few of them.

His eyes shifted towards the direction of a maze. He never liked maze's so he knew for a fact he wouldn't be going in there- if they all decided to have a little fun. Sighing, Eric found himself looking at a small light post. It was placed in an open space between what seemed to be washrooms and a store. Something about the way it looked made him feel uncomfortable.

"Be right back" he murmured as he started making his way towards the light post, but of course neither Jez or Delos had heard him.

He walked slowly looking around, making sure nothing was going to pop out of nowhere. When he was finally a few feet away he was able to notice a little sign at the top of the light post. He didn't know what the sign said because he was facing the back. So he walked closer to the light post and slowly put his hand on it before moving to the other side to face the front of the sign.

He was planning on reading it out loud whatever the sign said but he couldn't manage to because the words got stuck in his throat. His eyes widened as he slowly started taking a few steps back, but he stopped fast when he caught _that smell_.

Eric couldn't bring himself to turn around to see what he knew was already there. He walked back to stand against the light post as he closed his eyes. He grabbed tightly to the light post as he breathed in and out. He leaned his head against the light post and then he opened his eyes slowly.

Eric never knew how loud he could actually yell.

_Yell for help._

-o-

Raksha turned her head around fast as she stopped walking. "Did you hear that?" She asked looking at the two guys in front of her. They both nodded their heads in unison as the looked around.

"Do you think something happened?" Thierry asked clearly worried. As a response Galen shrugged as Raksha mumbled something about there being no point of yelling for help if something didn't happen.

"We haven't found food. Should we go?" Raksha nodded in response to Galen's question as Thierry already started heading towards the direction the heard the shout come from.

They walked fast in silence, trying to see if they can hear or see anything. It wasn't until five minutes later that Galen recognized the voice. "Eric" he whispered and then louder, he asked; "Isn't he the one yelling?"

"I think so" Raksha nodded "…fire?" she then questioned speeding up her pace. "Is he yelling… fire?"

"I don't see any fire" Galen stated looking around "there is no sm-fire!" he pointed to his left as he stopped walking. Raksha, who had been practically running trying to keep up with Galen couldn't stop running in time so she ended up crashing against Galen's back.

She lost her balance but before she could crash on the floor, Galen grabbed her hand. "Ow" she mumbled as she straightened up. "What are you made off?"

"Muscle" Galen murmured with a smirk on his face. He then regretted it as Raksha huffed and went to stand next to Thierry. He didn't even know what made him say that- with a smirk on his face. He _never_ smirks.

"Lets go" Thierry yelled as he started running towards the direction they saw smoke coming from. Raksha and Galen followed right behind him. The smoke was growing thicker as they got closer. Thierry cursed as he had to stop because his eyes were burning. He stopped a few meters away from where he saw Jez and Delos standing. They were both arguing as they looked around. His gaze fell on the fire when he heard Eric yell again, and that's when he saw him.

Surprisingly, the fire had formed a perfect circle around a light post. It didn't seem to be expanding or burning anything near it. If Eric wasn't stuck in that circle, then maybe they could have simply ignored the fire.

"How did this happen?" Delos and Jez, who had finally noticed their presence , shrugged as an answer to Thierry's question. He felt the need of yelling at both of them, but decided not to seeing how they looked somewhat scared.

"How did the fire start?" Raksha asked after she gave Galen the instruction of looking for water or anything that could turn of the fire. "I highly doubt he had a lighter"

"Really? A lighter?" Morgead was the one to ask as he ran towards Raksha with an annoyed expression on his face. Everyone else was behind him. Gillian and Thea where the last ones to get there because they had decided to walk. "No time for jokes" Morgead hissed at Raksha before glaring at both Delos and Jezebel "What happened?"

Raksha rolled her eyes as she went to stand next to Thierry while Delos and Jez explained what they could. While they were talking, Ash, John and David were trying to calm Eric down as they kept yelling encouraging things.

However, Eric wasn't listening. His eyes were wide as he stared at the fire circling him. He had his trembling arm around the post light, already feeling his throat dry from all the yelling. He was terrified- Rashel even thought that he was paralyzed because it seemed that he actually wasn't even breathing. He just stood there, staring.

"Pyrophobia" the word seemed to freeze everyone. "That sign" She said as she pointed towards it. Her eyes were wide as everyone waited for her to read it. "_Key 2; Pyrophobia_" Mary-Lynnette whispered "Ohmygod"

-o-

He heard the yelling, but he couldn't seem to make out any word.

Not with his heart beating so fast. Not with his mind over thinking. Especially not with his body gaining heat.

_Heat. Why heat? Why was it hot? Why am I sweating? _His mind asked as his eyes focused on another flame.

Flame…

A flame is suppose to have a cold part. The center. The very center of a flame should be cold. That's what his science teacher had once mentioned… but was it true? Could something so hot, be cold?

He never found out seeing how he purposely skipped class every time they had to work with…the _'f' _word. Pathetic. _Your pathetic Eric!_

But was he? _Was I? _It was alright to be scared right? He had his reasons after all… and they were damn good reasons.

Was he being a coward though? After all, he stood still leaning all his weight on the light post as his eyes stared at the flames. Should he be doing anything? Maybe move? Maybe run…

_And risk getting burned! NO!_

His heart started beating faster as his throat started to dry up even more. He could barely manage to breath or see for the matter. The smoke, the flames were causing, was affecting him in so many ways. What should he do? He had to do something, because if not, he might as well just die thanks to the smoke.

Trapped. He was trapped. Trapped next to that post light.

_Help…_He wanted to yell out, but the word never came. That's when he realised he was probably to afraid to move his lips. Fear.

He knew he was afraid, but it never felt right admitting that. However, now, as he looked at the flames, he had to admit it.

"_Eric! I'm going to get you!"_

"_Ma'am!"_

"_That's my son! Get him out! Get him out!"_

"_Mommy…"_

Eric shot his eyes as the memory kept going on his head. That childhood memory that never seemed to leave his dreams. The memory that haunted him.

"_The fire is expanding! We need to get him out now!"_

"_Please! My son! My son!"_

_Why is this happening! _Eric asked himself as the image of him mom crying kept passing his mind.

It hurt to think of that night because of the trauma it had left him in. However, what had hurt the most was just standing there and watching his family slowly lose hope as their eyes never left his face. His father holding onto Rosamund while his mother tried getting pass all the security guards and the fire fighters while her eyes never stopped releasing tears.

His heart had hurt a lot that day, even if he was just five years old, that night, he had experienced what pain was. Emotional pain. That pain that many say you would only feel if you had a girlfriend you loved and she left you. His pain had been similar to that. He had watched his mother with the thought of never seeing her again circling his mind. Oh, he had already felt dead.

Dead…

He should be dead by now. If it wasn't for that brave fire fighter, he would be dead. Those flames would have devoured him as he felt not only emotional pain, but physical as well.

"_Kevin! Its too thick! You wont make it!"_

"_We need to get that kid"_

"_You will die!"_

That fire fighter had definitely been brave. But he wasn't here. Not anymore, because like that security guard had said, he died. Died because he had passed those flames twice. _He died for me. _Eric thought as he felt his eyes watery. Whether it was thanks to the smoke or that sad memory, he didn't know. All he knew is that he was trapped, afraid and soon to be dead.

Because it had circled him again. He was in the middle again just like last time.

In the middle of that _fire. _

-o-

"What do we do!" Poppy yelled already feeling tears on her cheeks. "We have to get him out" she added as many heads nodded in approval.

"Wait" James spoke up as his eyes never left the fire. "We cant go in for him" he spoke softly. Poppy was about to protest just like Mary-Lynnette, but Ash spoke before either could open their mouth.

"The flames are to thick." James gave him an amused look before nodding. He had never imagined Ash would be the one to notice. "He has to get out by himself"

"Are you joking?" Hannah exclaimed "Look at him! He is _terrified_!"

"I see the problem" John spoke as him and Galen finished a small conversation they had been having "Ash is right. The flames are thick. Any of us could go through them once, and we would only get burned slightly. But if we pass that fire a second time…" he trailed off looking around, hoping everyone knew what he was about to say.

"We could die" Thierry finished his explanation before Hannah winced. "Either by second degree burns or dehydration"

_-o-_

Dehydration.

That word ringed a bell. Eric's eyes soften and slowly closed as he finally realised the conversation going on outside the circle, where everyone stood.

This whole thing sure made him feel that sense of deja-vu. Apart from there also being that sense- feeling, that he was in a comedy show. Comical. Somehow, this was very comical. Like a game, in a way. A scary game.

The type of game that starts funny until someone ends up hurt. Ha. He laughed silently, _or until someone gets burned. _

"Unless we find water"

With his eyes still closed, Eric moved his head slightly to the right. He recognized the voice, after all, twenty minutes ago he had heard that same voice yell out many compliments about going the wrong way. Jezebel. There was no mistake in it. That was her voice, and for the first time, instead of sounding annoyed, she sounded concerned.

That felt nice. He opened his eyes to see her. The flames blocked his view, but he could still see her. The back of her actually. She seemed to be facing Thierry, if not Ash or Morgead. They were the only ones _that_ tall.

"Highly doubt water is an option right now" the way those words where said, Eric knew immediately it was Ash talking. He could actually imagine him roll his eyes, and he felt a little weird, seeing how he had just met him a couple of hours ago.

_Water is not an option…_

Just like last time. Water wasn't going to help.

Help. They were trying to help him. Eric felt so stupid because he had just realised that. They were actually trying to help him…

Why did it surprise him though? Its human nature for someone wanting to help someone in need. Maybe he just felt weird because none of them barely knew him.

"The only option is to go and get him!" He also recognized that voice. "He is not moving! He is afraid! Someone needs to go and get him!" He never knew Hannah would be the type to yell orders out like that. He was shocked, after all, in campus she was known to be the quiet girl that was to nice for her own good. The girl that was given orders by her other friends and she would simply nod and do as they said.

This was a different Hannah.

And it scared him. It scared because of what she was thinking- of what _he knew _she was thinking. And he wasn't going to let it happen. No. Hell no.

"If none of you have the guts, then ill go!"

_NO! _he wanted to yell but the words never came.

-o-

"I'm sorry, did you not hear what we said?" Ash pointed at himself before pointing at James, John and Thierry. "You. Will. Die" he said the words softly and firmly making sure every word hit her head. She needed to understand.

"And if we stay like this_, he _will die" This time, to everyone's surprise, it was Thea who spoke. She, along with Maggie and Gillian had been quite all along. They were either talking amongst themselves or simply watching and hearing what everyone had to say. "Its clear that he is in the same state Gillian was in" her tone was calm and soft, definitely not fitting in with the situation. "Just like David helped Gillian react. We have to help Eric"

Those words seemed to put everyone in a thinking stage. They stood silently glancing at Gillian, Eric or Thea. Everyone was thinking of many possible ways of fixing this… mess. But it all came down to one option.

_Going in for him._

However, even though that was the only possible choice, they all knew the risk. They knew what would happen. So a question came to their mind. A question that was easy and hard to answer at the same time.

_Would I risk my life for him?_

Would they? They barely knew him. He wasn't a friend, and pretty much not someone 'worthy enough' to risk their own life for. What has he ever done for them? Why would they need to rescue him? Would he rescue them if they were the ones in the situation? The silence stretched as everyone stayed quiet. The only noise they heard was the one coming from the burning flames.

That's when Morgead noticed something. Something so simple and easy, and maybe… something that could change this situation. "It's not spreading" he spoke softly, almost like a whisper, but with the silence everyone heard him. "The fire, _its no spreading_"

"It's not even hot" This time it was Jez who spoke. "I mean, shouldn't we be sweating? Or Something?"

"Like I said" Thea spoke seeming a little annoyed. "Eric is going through the same thing Gillian went through" she looked at everyone making sure they were paying attention. "It's like a mind game" she had to control the urge she had to roll her eyes as everyone seemed to be confused. "Gillian, _please_ explain to them how you felt. _Again_"

Despite herself, Gillian chuckled softly because of the way Thea had spoken. She focused her attention on Eric before deciding how she was going to explain. "It felt… like my mind was playing with me" She stopped, thinking over her words "It was making me believe that if I opened my eyes… I would see darkness"

"Great. So your saying Eric is going insane?" Ash asked with sarcasm before getting hit by Jez. "Jerk" she said in unison with Maggie, Thea and Mary-Lynnette. "I was just-" Ash paused. "Forget it. Okay, so Gillian, what do you suggest we do?"

Gillian shrugged not really knowing an answer. There was silence for a moment as, once again they all started thinking. It wasn't until Morgead sighed that Mary-Lynnette eyes brighten as she looked at Eric. _She_ had an answer. "Maybe we could-"

"Let me guess. You are going to suggest we use a magic phrase to stop the fire?" Ash interrupted only making Jezebel hit him again. He was fast this time though, and moved to avoid Jez's hand.

Rolling her eyes, Mary-Lynnette shook her head before answering Ash's question. "No. We will use a 'magic' phrase to make Eric walk out"

"Wonderful" he huffed before rolling his eyes.

"What phrase?" John asked knowing it was a stupid idea, in a way, he was starting to sound and look like Ash. Bored and careless.

"Walk" Gillian spoke up as the look in her face expressed one thing only. Realization. "Walk!" she yelled happily as she pulled out a small piece of paper from her pocket.

"Is that…" Mary-Lynnette trailed off knowing Gillian would understand the question.

"Yes. The note I found from that key!"

"The one glued to the sign?" Raksha asked in disbelief. "It nearly burned my hand- huh? Explain yourself" it sounded like a demand but Gillian ignored it. She smiled brightly as she explained how she had pulled the key off the sign and had found a small note on the back of the key. The note that said 'walk'.

"Maybe, It's like a clue" she mused as some nodded in agreement.

"So what now?" Thierry questioned. "We yell walk?"

_-o-_

"Walk"

"Walk"

"Walk"

They wanted him to do that? _Walk, walk, walk…_Are they insane? Eric thought already dizzy. The word seemed to be passing his mind every second. _Walk, walk, walk…_

Like last time. This was just like last time.

"_Walk baby. Momma is here for you, walk darling, just a couple of steps and then run to my arms!"_

"_Come on kid. You can do it!"_

His mom had been wrong, just like the fire fighter. There was no way he could walk… not with those flames in front of him! Did they not know how scary they looked? How hot they could feel? How endless, they could seem. They didn't know because they weren't the ones stuck in those flames.

He was though. And there was no way her was going to walk.

"Run!" He heard the sharpness in Galen's tone. _At least he had used a different word. _Eric thought. But it didn't matter, they were still asking for the same thing. They were asking him to walk towards those burning flames that could take his life away.

"_Come on baby! Come to mommy!" _

He definitely thought she was insane at that moment. She clearly, wasn't thinking right, and in a way Eric got comfort from thinking that. Just like now, how he was comforted with the thought that they cared for him. In a way, they really did care for him even if they barely knew him.

"Fuck damn! Walk Eric!" He wanted to laugh as he heard Delos and Morgead yell those words in unison. They sounded almost like brothers.

Brothers… he was a brother. A brother to Rosamund.

"_Ric! Ric! Dada, ric!" _

The memory flashed through his mind as tried to control tears from escaping his eyes. His sister had cried so much that night. He remembered how her little fist kept making contact with his father's chest. How his father had refused to move any further from the fire because he still wanted to be able to see him.

"_You can do it" _his father had mouthed as he kept sobbing.

He had caused so much pain and worry to his family that night. Just like now he was causing those same emotions to his frien- no. They weren't really friends, right? They barely knew each other… but then again, why did it seem like the were his friends.

_Because they care. _

A voice in his mind said softly as another memory flashed through his mind.

"_Call the paramedics! As soon as I get the kid out he will need help"_

"_You will need more help then him, Kevin! Its too dangerous!"_

That conversation the police officer and the firefighter had seemed to make his heart twist in horror. The firefighter… Kevin… his rescuer. The man that gave his life to save him.

"He is not going to walk or run or whatever!" Eric heard Ash yell and his words- oh god, his words were so much like Kevin's…

"_He is not going to walk or run or do anything!" _Those words… the words- the last words he said before deciding… before… _"I'll get him!"_

"I'll just get him!"

NO! He couldn't, Ash couldn't be serious.

But he was. Eric knew he was because he could see that look in his face. Determination… just like Kevin. So much like him actually, but then, did that mean…

He would end up with the same fate as Kevin?

_Could I live knowing that someone else died for me?_

Eric knew he couldn't. He knew he couldn't let Ash do this. He already had to live with the fact that thanks to him a loyal, family man had died. Now, could he handle knowing that thanks to him a boy- a stranger- died to save him because he was a coward. Because he was too afraid to take a couple of steps- to run?

Run from that fear- no, to run _pass_ that fear.

"…crazy! You said it yourself" Maggie had been talking but he only managed to hear the last part.

"Whatever"

He was going to do it- oh god, he was actually going to! _Is he stupid? _Eric thought as his heart started twisting even more. _Does he not treasure his life?_

"_Walk baby- no Run, run to momma's arms."_

Run. Could he?

"Ash!" Thea shouted. "Don't be stupid!"

_Yeah. Listen to her. She seems to be wise- wise and pretty. _Since he first saw Thea, he had thought that. He even considered thinking about asking her for her number- but then they found out their cell phones didn't work in the building- or they all simply just ran out of battery.

"First, you say we go after him and now, your not letting me?" he heard the arrogance in Ash's tone. "So are you admitting I was right all along?"

"Your acting like a child! Think this over" Mary-Lynnette yelled at him as Eric started blinking his eyes rapidly.

"Wonderful. I guess I'll die like a child"

Eric knew that in a twisted way, Ash was joking. He knew he was that type of guy- the one to joke when the world was falling apart. And he respected that, because that type of people were optimistic. They wanted to joke because they knew things would get better and that there was no point in getting overly worried over anything for just a moment.

Ash was joking… but his words burned something in Eric.

Die. Die. Die.

No. He wouldn't let Ash die.

"Redfern! Don't do this"

"Ash!"

"Stop!"

"Think over it!"

"Wait! _Look_!"

-o-

"Stop drop and roll!" Ash yelled as he took of his jacket just like David and Thierry and started hitting Eric with it trying to turn off the fire. "His foot!"

"Shit!" Morgead exclaimed as he started shaking Eric who was laying on the floor. "His eyes are closed!"

"But he is breathing" Thea stated as she kneeled next to Morgead and placed her hands on Eric's chest.

Everyone stood around watching as Thea's hand kept going up and down rapidly. Her hands were still on Eric's chest- bare chest. His clothes had been burned off a little as soon as he had ran through the fire. When he immediately followed Ash's direction of stopping, dropping and rolling, he had ripped some of his clothes away- mostly his shirt.

Thierry, David and Ash, had successfully turned off all the small flames that surrounded Eric's body. However, their jackets were now either slightly burned or dusty.

"The fire is gone" Hannah mumbled after a couple of minutes of silence. Sure enough, everyone turned to look at the post light and the fire was indeed gone.

"Freaky" Raksha mused as she looked at Eric who was now opening his eyes. "You asshole, you gave us a heart attack!" Everyone decided to ignore her comment even though she was right. It just seemed a little rude.

Eric managed to give her a smile before he mouthed sorry. He then focused his eyes on Ash. Just like he had suspected, he had a grin on his face- and he was still managing to look bored and annoyed. "Idiot" Eric murmured as he tried to sit up but both Thea and Morgead didn't allow him to.

"I was expecting a thank you"

"How did you-" Eric coughed, letting the words stay in his throat. He knew Ash understood his question anyways.

"When Hannah said she was going to go in for you" Ash spoke as everyone looked at him with confusion, amusement or disbelief in their eyes. He sighed before rolling his eyes. "I saw your eyes practically pop open- you even moved a little. So I figured you didn't want anyone to go in for you, because you knew they would be risking their life"

"Asshole" Eric scoffed as his breathing finally slowed down a little.

"Wait" Mary-Lynnette spoke up her voice filled with surprise. "Your _that_ smart?"

Everyone broke out in laughter as Ash rolled his eyes once again, clearly irritated.

_A stupid smartass. _Eric thought as he silently thanked him for helping him walk away from his phobia.

-o-

_That is it :)_

_Okay, I think there are some parts I didn't really make sense... so sorry about that. I hope you did enjoy this chapter though. _

_Sorry if any mistakes!_

_Next Chapter: Thalassophobia_

_Review?_

_Please?_

_:D?_

_-Maria_

_God Bless You All!_


	4. Chapter 4 Thalassophobia

_Hello! _

_Like I've mentioned... Im very busy lately. This month is crazy for me, so sorry it took so long!_

_This chapter is long. So I hope it makes up for the time I took._

_Im very thankful for all the reviews you wonderful people have left me. Very kind words :)_

_Disclaimer: I dont own the Characters._

_Enjoy!_

_Sorry if at some points things are hard to understand... sometimes its hard to describe something and all..._

_Chapter 4: Thalassophobia_

"Well at least now we have food" Morgead mused as he looked at the store a couple of feet away.

"Don't forget the washroom" Rashel added with amusement. "Good thing you found this place Eric" It was mostly true. When Eric spotted the light post he did notice the washroom and store but he didn't think much of it, after all his mind had been to occupied with thoughts of being burned alive.

Giving Rashel a soft nod he finally manage to gather the strength to stand up. He was slightly mad that he had burned his favourite t-shirt, not to mention his face was probably covered in dust. Also, he could still feel his skin burning in some parts of his body, specially his right arm. Ignoring the orders Thea and Hannah were giving him of sitting down and staying still, Eric decided to stretch his muscles a little.

He moved his legs slightly before stretching his arms up high. He even stretched his fingers as his palm faced the ceiling. He ignored the pain the burns were causing him and pushed his muscles to the limit as he stretched even further- however just then he felt a small object hit his palm. With his fast reflex, Eric grabbed whatever had fallen on his palm before putting his hand down and examining it.

"What's wrong?" Thea asked once she noticed Eric had practically frozen and what worried her the most was that he was staring at his hand with a shocked and frightened expression.

"_3425_" Eric mumbled before showing Thea a small note with one hand and then a key with the other.

"Anyone arithmophobic?" Ash asked with fake interest as he took the key from Eric.

"I'm scared of numbers with those big equations…"

"I hate the graphs…"

"I think the only thing I'm scared of is my math teacher…"

"I never liked numbers…"

Ash ignored the conversation as he walked towards Gillian and asked her if he could see the key she had. She gave it to him before he stood silently comparing both the keys.

"I really hate dividing…"

"You know, now that I think about it, math _is _scary…"

"…and all those numbers…"

"I only get nervous for any math exam…"

"I hate numbers"

Ash raised an eyebrow after he finished comparing both keys. He couldn't believe they had taken his question so seriously. "The keys are a like" he mused knowing they weren't listening. He handed Gillian and Eric their keys before deciding he had to use the washroom.

"Guys" Hannah called out as she watched Ash and Eric make their way towards the washroom. "Shouldn't we get some food?" she asked once they all had their attention on her.

The topic of food definitely interested at least half the group. They talked over each other about various different things regarding their hunger before deciding that they definitely needed to eat. Morgead suggested that they should get cleaned up (the ones that were dirty because of the little fire incident) and just east whatever junk food there was in the store.

Thierry then added the fact that they still needed to talk over what was happening and silently they all agreed. Even though it was definitely not on top of everyone's to do list. What was happening to them was bizarre and completely unnatural. Deep inside they all wanted to believe this was some sort of dream because everything seemed practically impossible.

On the other hand, some still thought of this as a joke and even though they were slightly scared, the rides and attractions surrounding them made them practically forget about what had happened with Gillian and Eric. The invitation they had received did mention having the time of their lives…

So shouldn't they have fun? Shouldn't they enjoy this amusement park?

-o-

Mary-Lynnette ate the last bit of her biscuit before she finally took a seat next to Maggie to complete the circle everyone had made inside the store. Looking around awkwardly she found that no one seemed to be wanting to start the conversation. She had hoped Thierry or James, who had shown to be mature so far, would be the ones to pretty much lead the conversation, however right now both seemed to be more interested in the floor.

Her second hope was Ash or David. Both talked a lot and didn't seem to be shy at all, plus she was certain they were both smart so she honestly thought they would be the ones to speak first, however they had failed her expectations which left the two girls she was looking at. Both seemed to be thinking about speaking and Mare was glad to see that they were showing more confidence then any of the guys.

At the end, it was Rashel who spoke first. "So, what do you guys think?" she asked as she looked around trying to make eye contact with everyone. A few of them shrugged not really wanting to say much, while the rest did nothing as they waited for Rashel to say something.

Glancing around, Rashel could tell everyone was thinking of something and that they all had their opinions, but probably just like her, they weren't willing to share their thoughts with everyone else. Simply because they didn't trust each other yet. Sure, they had some trust and maybe some even thought of considering one and another as friends but in all honesty they were all still strangers.

"What do you think the keys are for?" heads were turned towards the direction of the voice. Eric, who was currently sitting next to Gillian, had both keys in hand. Just like Ash had earlier, he was examining them closely.

"I've been thinking about that" Raksha admitted once she finished chewing the piece of chocolate she had thrown in her mouth. "Do you think they could open the red doors we came through?" she paused as everyone thought over her question. "Or any other door for the matter- at least a door that can lead us to an exit"

"It could be possible" Thierry mused resting his head on the wall behind him.

"An exit? So you are planning on leaving this park with out trying any of the rides?" To everyone's surprise that he actually said those words, Delos found himself smiling. "Lets set things straight" he added once everyone had their attention on him "We received a letter inviting us to have some _fun. _We are in an amusement park which equals to _fun_. So why not have _fun_ while we can?"

"Because if you haven't noticed, this is not a normal amusement park" Thea stated sending cold glares towards his direction.

"I think we all know that" Delos snapped as he ignored the glares he was getting "Which is why I think it makes things more interesting" his last statement made Thea scoff as she tried to control herself from yelling an inappropriate insult.

Noticing Thea wasn't going to say anything else, Delos smirked considering this as a victory over the small argument- that was until someone else spoke. "Lets see how interesting you think this is once _you _have to face your phobia" Poppy's bold words seemed to have hit a nerve because Delos' body atomically tensed.

"I don't have a phobia" he spoke quieter then the last time as if he was trying to convince himself of his statement.

"Of course you don't"

Delos' head shot up towards James' direction as his hands slowly closed into fists. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by an annoyed Morgead. "Can we quit the bickering?" he asked looking at everyone who had talked for the past ten minutes. "My head is hurting with all this over thinking"

"Speaking of over thinking" Jez mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear her. She sat up straight against the wall behind her before crossing her legs as she spoke. "Something has been bothering me since we got here…" everyone stayed silent as they waited for her to continue. Sighing, with her right hand she reached inside her pocket to pull out a paper everyone was familiar with "…we always remember the guarantee of us having fun, but…"

"Is that the invitation?" Maggie asked not able to properly tell because she was the one sitting further away from Jez.

Jez ignored the question not trying to be rude but simply wanting to continue her explanation. "As we all clearly remember -I hope" with those words she looked at Delos before continuing "before the 'fun' is mentioned and all that other stuff about good memories to keep it says…" Jez opened the invitation and quickly scanned it before reading it out loud. _"Not many dare, not many will. For we know what you hide, we know what you fear." _

With that said, silence took over.

Subconsciously, those words had been in their minds. It was the reason why this park seemed to give everyone the creeps. However, seeing how most liked the easy way out of things, they chose to ignore what ever weird feeling inside of them. Staying positive about the situation seemed to help them, but at one point there would come the time when they would start questioning their sanity.

Jez had brought up a good point, Galen noticed. In a way, the invitation had bothered him since he first saw it, and he still didn't know why he had decided to come. He did want to have fun and the invitation _did_ promise that, however now that he sat there next to Jez as he glanced over her shoulder to read the invitation, Galen wanted to hit himself.

Galen had never been the careless type. Actually, now that he thought about it, it hadn't been careless of him- it had been completely _stupid_. Completely stupid. The first line of the invitation was practically screaming 'trouble' and as Galen looked around to see the expression on everyone's face he could tell that they were probably thinking the same thing.

They shouldn't have come.

"_We know what you fear" _Gillian murmured the exact words that were writing on the invitation. "We' who?"

"The creeps behind all this shit" John spoke stating the obvious.

"Now we just have to find out who they are" Rashel sighed while playing with her hands. "I have a question, do any of you still think this is some sort of prank?" The question was random but it didn't surprise any of them. There was silence as Rashel looked around to see some of them shaking their heads while others just stared at her. At the end she decided she was the only one that still hoped this was a joke.

"What do you guys think about the phones?" Mary-Lynnette found herself asking, breaking the silence. She reached for her phone just like a few others before sighing in annoyance. "Mine is still dead"

"Same"

"No battery"

"It wont turn on"

"Does anyone think this is pure coincidence?" James asked after he placed his blackberry back into his pocket.

"I had my phone fully charged before we entered the building" Poppy told him as she kept trying to turn her Iphone on. "This sucks" Giving up she let it drop on the floor before leaning her head on James' shoulder while crossing her arms. He tensed up but didn't push her away- he figured she was only having a childish moment as she pouted.

"Remember the warning on the wall?" Rashel asked after another short period of silence. "It said something about no way out until the end"

"The end of what?"

"That's what I want to know. Any ideas?" The question was directed to everyone but it seemed no one really had the answer. "I think it has to do with what happened to Eric and Gillian" with that said she focused her eyes on both of them.

"I think" Ash spoke for the first time causing everyone to turn their eyes towards him as he sat next to Rashel leaning his body against a stand of chocolate bars "that the keys are our way out" no one said anything as they waited for him to continue. "Once Gillian and Eric 'confronted' their phobia, they 'received' a key, right?" heads nodded "So, I believe that we all need a key"

Besides him, John asked "Therefore we all need to face our phobias?"

"Exactly" Ash concluded as he let a couple of minutes of silence pass so everyone could think over what he said.

"This is crazy" Hannah whispered. "But it makes sense"

"So we are just going to sit around waiting for one of us to go on mental stage and face something that practically scares us to death?" Morgead asked making John and Thierry roll their eyes in annoyance as they cursed themselves for sitting next to someone so loud.

"Pretty much" Jez mused thinking over what Morgead said.

Gillian and Eric both felt relived seeing how they had already gone through that 'mental' stage like Morgead had put it. As for the others, to say they weren't excited would have been an understatement.

"I don't have a phobia" Delos found himself stating once again after thinking over what his phobia could possibly be. Of course, he wasn't able to think of anything and it seemed that others were in the same position as him as they nodded their heads in agreement.

"_For we know what you hide, we know what you fear" _Ash repeated the words that were written on the invitation before sending glares towards Delos' direction. "Clearly you fear something, or else you wouldn't have been invited" Delos was about to open his mouth to protest but Ash immediately started talking once again not wanting to deal with Delos' bickering. "So since we all have a phobia, why don't we do some sharing?"

"We would I tell _you _what I fear?" Raksha snapped rudely before she could stop herself. She definitely didn't want to sound like a bitch at the moment but she couldn't help herself seeing how she seemed to be slightly uncomfortable knowing that she would in fact have to face her phobia.

"Same reason I will tell you my fear" Ash stated not slightly annoyed by her rudeness. "So that when I have to confronted, you could help me"

_Damn you, Ash. _Was a thought going through almost everyone's head because what he said made sense. If they had known Gillian's fear or Eric's then things would have been different, they could have probably helped them much faster. Also, knowing each others fears could help bring confidence amongst each others- it would make everyone think that they had people depending on them and that they knew- or had an idea- of what they were going through.

"So what's your phobia?"

Ash had to control himself from frowning. He knew he had to tell everyone and he honestly had no problem with that- well he did, but he wasn't going to admit that. However, even if it was his idea, he didn't want to be first. So he cursed Mary-Lynnette for asking that simple question.

"Not so tough now Mr. Hot stuff" Rashel mumbled trying to control her laughter as John snickered besides him. Ash once again found himself cursing, this time because he had sat next to those two.

"I'm not really sure" Ash decided to say before quickly adding; "I fear a lot of things, I don't really know what could classify as my phobia"

"Well why don't you-"

"What the hell!" Maggie yelled before she stood up fast. Mary-Lynnette and Eric soon followed as confused eyes watched them. Maggie was about to explain why she had yelled for until she noticed something different about the door. She froze before she could even say anything.

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked looking around as Gillian David and Thea stood up and before anyone could answer she was able to spot something shiny on the floor. "What's that?" she asked but instead of an answer all she got was someone grab her arm before lifting her up.

"Water" was all Thierry said once he let go of her arm to point towards the door "Look" Hannah did as told and before she could stop herself she grabbed Thierry's hand and squeezed it tightly as she let out a squeak.

"How did this happen?" Morgead asked as he went to stand as far away from the door as he could. "Its impossible."

And it was. Everyone agreed as the looked at the transparent door- or at least that's what it used to be. Now it was a blue door because behind the door was water. All around them there was water. Through the shop window's they could see the water. They were surrounded. They were underwater- the store was underwater. And no one had any idea how it happened- or how deep down they were.

-o-

He stared. Stared blindly at the door as he felt everyone moving further away from it. He couldn't bring himself to make any sort of movement and in a way he didn't feel like he should- because what would it matter? By the way the water was leaking in from all of the sides of the store, at the end it wouldn't matter how far from the door they were, the water was going to reach them.

He couldn't believe any of this. Like Morgead had said, this was impossible. There was no way the water could have randomly appeared all around the store- oh god and it seemed to be _a lot _of water because they couldn't even see anything. Everything was blue and…

It was dark. Actually, it seemed that it was getting darker by the second, which meant they were going deeper in- or more like more water was appearing. If it wasn't for the lights in the store, they would have never noticed- heck if it wasn't for Maggie's random fit when she felt the water that was leaking in pass by her leg, they would have probably still been sitting down talking about phobias-

Phobias.

He closed his eyes slowly as he let the word sink in.

This was clearly _his_ phobia.

"Hey, look" Poppy mumbled besides but he didn't bother to open his eyes "There is something on the door" He heard more movement as Delos and Morgead kept arguing about something- he hadn't paid attention to what exactly.

"Its another key" he heard Ash say which only made his heart twist very uncomfortably. "_Key 3; Thalassophobia" _

And that was it.

That was all he needed to know for a fact that this was it. This was actually happening and by the looks of it, he couldn't do anything to stop it.

As he had his eyes still closed he heard Ash ask something but didn't quite catch what because he couldn't make sense of anything around him any longer. There was the uncomfortable twist in his heart and the annoying pain in his mind as memories kept popping up.

He felt weaker then ever and just like Eric and Gillian had described it, he felt that he was slowly loosing his mind. Usually, at a situation like this, he would start thinking positively however now every thought that seemed to be running pass his mind was completely negative.

Because he knew there was no way out.

So as he felt his knees go weak and his head slowly increased in pain, he found himself collapsing on the floor. Pain shot through his body, his eyes never opening. He could feel the water underneath him. It was a lot of water compared to five minutes ago when there wasn't even a drop. Of course, no matter what material the store was made off the water would find a way to get in.

_Water…_

_Deep…_

_No way out…_

_Lost…_

"James!"

-o-

"Lay him down on that table" Delos and Morgead did as Ash said after he pushed away all the souvenir toys that were on it.

"What's wrong with him?" Poppy was the one to asked alarmed as she stood next to Jez still far away from the door but not as far from where James laid. Around him stood Delos, Morgead, Ash and Raksha- who was currently trying to slow down his breathing.

"Nervous break down?" Hannah suggested as she tighten the grip she had on Thierry's hand. She realised a while back how she had unconsciously grabbed his hand but decided not to let go to avoid an embarrassing explanation. Instead she planned on letting go once there was no option and then acting like it never happened. She didn't see a problem in that seeing how Thea was currently holding unto his arm.

"Apart from James, anyone else scared of water- or sea for the matter?" Thierry asked once Raksha mention James was starting to calm down. No heads were shaken.

"I love swimming" David mumbled. "But being in this situation…I'm currently terrified" There were more then two heads nodding at his statement. "But its clear that this is James' phobia" again heads nodded in agreement.

"Uhm… not intending anything what-so-ever _but_, isn't James suppose to confront his fear… by himself?" silence took over as no one really knew how to answer Rashel's question.

"I don't think so" John whispered before he cleared his throat and spoke once again but this time louder, "I mean if you think about it, we did help Eric and Gillian with their phobia"

"Yeah, but we weren't really experiencing it"

"Well, I guess now we have something else to worry about" Morgead said flatly catching everyone's attention. "For now, can we try figuring out what to do?" Once again silence took over as they all found themselves thinking of a solution, except for Morgead who had cleared his mind after deciding he had already used his brain too much.

Instead, Morgead found himself listening to James' breathing as he never opened his eyes. He knew very well he was awake seeing how he had experienced his own nervous break down a while back. He felt sorry for him because he knew how he felt- he could actually relate.

_Thalassophobia… _definitely an interesting one. Although Morgead wasn't sure what phobia he had, he was certain that now looking through the door at the dark blue water, Thalassophobia could definitely be on the consideration list. Sure, Eric's phobia was scary enough- no one ever wanted to be burned alive and yes, he had been scared of the darkness when he was little so he understood, Gillian's phobia. _But this…_

This just gave him the creeps. He suddenly felt so cold and as he watched more water leak into the store he felt a strong shiver over his body. Just watching as they slowly sank into the darkness, it was not a good feeling and the water- oh hell, he could already feel it touch his ankle and that wasn't making anything better- That's when he realised something.

They were going to die.

-o-

"_James, put your life jacket on!"_

"_But mom! If I do I wont be able to touch the water" _

"_Your not suppose to touch the water, James. Now stop leaning on the boat and put your life jacket on!"_

"_Wait! I'm almost touching…"_

_So this is what Eric meant when he said memories were playing in his head- _James thought as he was finally able to control his breathing. He had to admit though, he liked Gillian's explanation better seeing how she had actually been more honest about it. The memory playing had to do with his phobia. And just like Eric, the memory he was seeing playing in his head had caused his phobia. If it wasn't for that day, he wouldn't be trembling- but of course he had to blame his break down attacks for that.

"_Good god, James. You are going to fall!"_

"_James. Listen to your mother" _

"_But… but…its blue!"_

James mentally scoffed. Of course back then blue had been his favourite colour, so leave it to him to want to touch something because its blue- he should have known better.

"_Quit being such a baby. You're a Rasmussen. You cant just go around wanting to touch everything that is blue"_

He remembered the bitterness in his fathers words- and for once, James wished he had listened to him. Who would of thought his old man could actually speak words that weren't insults. At that time he remembered feeling like his father had been worried he would fall, small little six year old Jamie finally felt like his father cared.

But then he saw his face. A face that didn't speak concern or that didn't have any sign or care. Then Jamie remembered what he said, _You're a Rasmussen… _so once again everything was about him being a Rasmussen. The son of the well known lawyer.

The memory played so well in his mind. He saw how his little naïve self looked around to see his father's co-works scattered around the sea with their own boats and families. Of course, the only reason his father would ever take his family anywhere would be when work had to be involved, or to show his _sensitive_ family side.

"_James, put your life jacket on!"_

"I found life jackets!"

-o-

Jez stared at Morgead with her mouth wide open. _He can't be serious. _But the look on his face told her the opposite. Morgead was dead serious, and the worst part was that as she looked around, Jez was noticing the convinced expressions everyone had. _Oh goddess._ "We are not opening that door!" she exclaimed

"_I _will open that door" Morgead replied calmly with a smirk playing on his lips.

Furious, Jez slammed her fist on a stand before yelling in disbelief; "So we can all die?"

"So we can swim to the surface" This time, Morgead turned around to look at Jez who was looking at him like he gained a random head. Morgead had to control his laughter before it left his lips as the smirk never left his face.

"A surface we don't even know exists!" That was true, Morgead had to admit, but at the moment it was the only option they had.

"Jez, think about it" Mary-Lynnette -who was agreeing with Morgead- spoke placing her hand on her shoulder as a sympathetic gesture. "Sooner or later we are going to end up trapped in here with all the water that is leaking in. The only real option we have is opening the door and swimming to the surface"

"Again I say, a surface we don't know exists!" Mary-Lynnette winced at the sound of Jezebel's harsh voice. "Look how dark the water is! We are probably a thousand feet under!"

"So what do you think we should do?" Morgead asked mockingly already annoyed at the show Jezebel was putting. He hated stubborn girls, he knew right away that if they survived this, Jez would be the type of girl to annoy him beyond what he could handle.

"Put the life jackets on" To everyone's surprise, it wasn't Jezebel that spoke. Slowly all eyes were turned towards James who was now sitting down on the table with eyes opened and breathing heavily. "and swim to the surface"

-o-

He wasn't sure how things would turn out, and he sure didn't want to think about it right now. Jez had a valid point, the water was dark and that usually meant they were deep inside- he would know. However, something inside him gave him faith. Apart from swimming to the surface being the only option, it was also the only way he could actually face his fear.

Since that day… James had never stepped foot near the sea. Not even lakes or ponds, the most he could handle were pools and they still made his heart beat speed increase. Ash had said it himself, the only way to get out of this place was if they all faced their phobias. This was his, and he needed the key.

"_James. If you don't stop leaning against the boat you will fall!"_

"_Just let me touch it mom!"_

Things would be different this time. He would have the life jacket on- he wouldn't rebel because his parents weren't here. He had nothing to prove. He wasn't mad because of the lack of concern. The people around him, strangers that barely knew him were clearly showing their support as they put their life jackets on. It was nothing like that day…

James actually felt safe now.

"_JAMES!"_

"Fuck!"

-o-

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck" Morgead cursed as he helped Hannah and Thea up while Ash helped Thierry. "This is not good" he mumbled as he helped both girls walk away from the wall.

The wall that now had a huge hole allowing water to enter as he felt the store sink lower into the ground- he actually wondered how that was possible seeing how the store had been on the ground.

"How did _that _happen?" Gillian asked as she tried getting her life jacket on faster. Besides her now stood Thea as she coughed out the water she had swallowed once the wall cracked allowing the water to push her down. She simply shrugged her shoulders in response to her question as Hannah went to grab a life jacket.

"We were just standing there and then- shit!" Hannah cursed as she heard a crack. Before she knew it the other side of the store had a hole just as big as the one in front of her. Water was leaking in faster and the fear was growing.

"Everyone grab a fucking life jacket!" Delos cursed as he already had his secured tightly on his body. He was thankful that Morgead had found the life jackets- and even more thankful that there were enough for all of them.

"Open the door. We all have a jacket on!" Ash nodded at Thierry's command as he looked around making sure his statement was true. Satisfied with seeing everyone wearing the yellow life jackets, Ash made his way towards the door.

He looked around once again before grabbing the handle and then without a second though he pulled.

-o-

James watched with his eyes wide open as the water kept coming in. It was already reaching his waist- even higher. Feeling the courage he had slowly gained decrease, James found himself in a stage of deja-vu.

"_James!"_

"_James!"_

"_Jamie!"_

The water was just as blue as that day. Just as cold. And just like that day, James could no longer remember how to swim. He didn't need too, at least not yet, but as he tried figuring out he was going to get to the surface his mind kept blanking out. _When Ash opens the door I have too-_

The door. James noticed it should be open by now… _yet…_

"It wont open!"

"Try pushing or something- help him guys!"

"We are! It wont open"

"Look!" his eyes quickly followed towards the direction Poppy was pointing. Next to the door was a little machine with numbers on it. It looked oddly familiar to the devices you see glued on a wall next to a door in an FBI building or something. The devices that usually have secret codes-

And then it hit him.

"The note, Eric! The one you found with your key, what are the numbers!" James was shocked at how smart Ash actually was. With all the stress he still managed to figure it out. That kid was definitely something…

"I don't have it! I gave it to Maggie when I went to wash my face" All eyes went to Maggie.

"I left it on the counter…" Maggie mumbled with disbelief and guilt as she pointed towards the back of the store. At once all eyes shot up towards the direction of the stores counter- and thankfully enough they were able to see the note, however not for long because just then a small wave went over the counter.

That water was getting higher. It was almost touching his chin, so when James moved, he didn't quite regret it.

"_Swim James!" _

"_James!"_

"_Jamie, swim !"_

James didn't know what took over him but he found his body had gained some sort of strength that was making every part of his body work so perfectly. Before he knew it he was swimming towards the counter. He was the only one close enough so he had to do it.

"Stop!"

"James don't!"

"The hole…"

He was almost there though… he couldn't stop, not now. He could still see the note and somewhere inside his head as he tried swimming faster and faster… James was laughing. Because this seemed like a movie. Those actions movies where at the end its up to the hero of the movie to say the day by risking his life. Everything was going in slow motion as he tried to grab the paper that was only inches away from him.

"_Oh god, dear! You have to get him, he is going to drown!" _

"_Swim, James"_

James tried pushing the memory away. He didn't need it now- not now that he finally caught the paper. "THREE!" he yelled as he tried swimming back towards the door. Ash was now standing in front of the device, he saw him click a button before yelling the next number. "FOUR!" another button. "TWO!" another. "FIVE!"

And in one quick second, the doors opened. The water rushed in. He took a deep breath. And he started swimming faster then he could ever imagine.

"_Let this be a lesson for him"_

"_He is going to drown!"_

"_He needs to learn"_

He remembered the flat words his father yelled at his mother. Yes, he had been slowly sinking deep into the sea but it seemed that something up above wanted him to hear those words. Something up above wanted him to realise that his father never cared.

If he had, then he would of jumped to save him before his son had gain the traumatizing feeling as the water kept surrounding him and taking him into the darkness. If his father had jumped to save him, then he would have never been this afraid of the sea.

"_Your son will die!"_

"_Let him save himself"_

And that's when James realised that he only feared the sea so much because of how _good _it made him feel. Of how the cold water kept entering his system replacing the air. The darkness of the sea blinded him from seeing everything… because the naïve six year old Jamie knew he was dieing.

And he was happy.

Happy to leave that life with those parents that never cared. Happy to leave a life that was worthless in his fathers eyes. Happy that he no longer had to live to be a disappointment all the time.

The sea made him feel that happiness- _and that was not normal_.

James didn't want to die- subconsciously, not even back then. His mind was only playing tricks… his nervous break down… it was all just playing games. James loved his life. He needed his life.

When he was six, he could have died but he had been saved by one of his fathers co-workers. He had been to weak to save himself. The feeling of happiness had taken over and he had practically given up… but now…James was strong now. He believed in himself. His father was not around to crash his soul. His heart was beating… and he wanted life.

So he swam. He moved his legs violently as his eyes were wide open searching for a light that could indicate the surface. Fast, he looked around not stopping any part of his body. He couldn't see anyone, but at the moment it didn't matter. He was swimming… and he _was_ going to make it.

The small light he saw from the corner of his eye told him that- and James couldn't help but to smile as one word circled his mind.

_Surface._

-o-

_Okay! Thats it :)_

_Now... time for some talking._

_Like mentioned up above, this month is crazy for me- and last month, -sigh- dont even get me started. I've been so busy- although I will admit i've also been simply reading some Hetalia fanfics. Its like my new obsession. (Hetalia is an Anime that i strongly recommend. Its about contries and all.. so like the characters are contries. My point is, im obssesed with Canada and Prussia (and UK) they make the cutest couple! And yeah.. both are male, although some fanfics flip the gender around... Honestly guys check it out! Your country is most likely in it... I really believe you will like it, not to mention if you watch the anime you get to hear some pretty sexy accents!) . Yeah..._

_This chapter took me a while to write.. but woohoo, I got it done. I'm not sure when ill have the next chapter posted but ill try having it up as soon as possible. _

_Also! Uhm, a few people have asked if I take requests and my answer to that is yes. So feel free to request something... like a oneXshot._

_And! I have a new poll on my profile so check that out ;) _

_And.. guess what, I just read this story (cant remeber the name) but its about Keller and Jez. They died and now they are back but as humans.. yeah my point is, the story is effin amazing. The author has 3 chapters up and i love it! Okay, yeah check that one out. I recommend!_

_So its like 11 something and im tired and.. i probably made alot of mistakes but ugh, im pretty sure none of them are major. _

_Okay.. I just noticed I'm rambling about stuff that doesnt really have to do with this story._

_So.. From now on, in the story, they are going to be kind of divided (the characters)... like im splitting them in three groups or whatever. It will only last for a while but yeah.. its basically so I can focuse on all characters and so I can make sure not to leave anyone behind. _

_I hope im making sense... if you understand me, give yourself a cookie!_

_Next Chapter: Gelotophobia_

_Anywho!_

_Review?_

_Please?_

_=D?_

_Sorry if I wasted your time reading all this random A.N crap. _

_-Maria_

_**GOD BLESS YOU! **_


	5. Chapter 5 Gelotophobia

_Hello!_

_Yes. I know. I'm horrible._

_I never wanted to take so long but ugh! Blame school!_

_I'm really, really, really sorry! _

_However on the bright side... I'm very, very, very thankful for all the reviews! You guys are amazing :D_

_So, here I bring a huge ass chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_-o-_

Chapter 5; Gelotophobia

The crashing pain hit him as soon as he opened his eyes. Light as bright as the sun, James wasn't expecting that, especially since he was inside a building. He stood up unwillingly as he blinked numerous times while memories of what happened played in his head.

_I'm alive. _He thought before questioning where he was. Clearly, not anywhere near the sea or whatever that was because he was in fact sitting on the ground- a wet ground. That's when James finally realised the water around him covering him up to his waist. Definitely not deep and the water was crystal clear, he could even see the ground. Or more like the floor, painted with blue flower designs- what?

"We are in a water park" James turned his head quickly to see John standing up completely soaked. Then he realised he was just as soaked as he tried to stand up himself.

"How did we get here?" he asked but all John did for an answer was shrug.

"What the _crap_?" Both boys turned their heads east following the voice, soon enough they saw Poppy laying there next to Hannah. Her eyes were wide open as she looked around. Both boys looked at each other before narrowing their eyes and quickly examining where exactly they were.

Soon enough, their eyes were slowly widening as the they looked at the water park. It was just like the amusement park, heck, John thought it was the amusement park, just that now, there was water everywhere. Every ride there was had water, from where he stood he could even see small pools all over.

"This is… impossible" Hannah stated as she stood up before helping Poppy up.

"Agreed" A new voice spoke and everyone turned to see Thierry sitting by a table where there wasn't any water. He was taking of his shirt as he spoke. Hannah and Poppy both had to control themselves from smiling seeing how Thierry was in deed fit.

"So what now?" John asked as he made his way to Thierry.

"I say we dry up and then… find the others?" Thierry suggested before pushing his wet hair back. That's when they all noticed that in fact, apart from them, the others where nowhere to be seen. "Oh, and James, there is something here for you" with that said Thierry gestured towards the center of the table.

James made his way there before noticing the small and far too familiar key laying right above the carved words; _Key 3; Thalassophobia_. He frowned at the words but then he couldn't help but smile as his eyes landed on the key once again, because the key seemed like a very special reward, after all he had to fight his phobia to get it. Once he grabbed it he made sure to take the note that was under it as well. He took the note with his other hand before reading it out loud. "Live, Listen, Love_"_

"Isn't it suppose to be laugh?" Hannah asked once her and Poppy finally made it to the table. "You know, Live, Laugh, Love, or something…?"

"Does it matter? Lets just make sure we have it for the next phobia" Everyone nodded in agreement at John's words before he took a seat next to Thierry on the table. "So, we dry up?" He asked and before anyone could answer he was already taking his shirt off. James was quick to follow leaving Poppy and Hannah blushing as they looked around awkwardly.

"You know, it's going to take longer for your clothes to dry up if you don't take them off." James stated as he sat next to John, who smirked as Thierry tried to hide his smile.

"I'm not taking my clothes off in front of you!" Poppy yelled as the blush in her cheeks darkened.

"Okay, don't need to get aggressive" James said while he chuckled. Poppy rolled her eyes completely embarrassed as Hannah simply looked around with a small blush on her cheeks. It was after a short minute that she remembered something.

"Where did the life jackets go?"

-o-

"This is more then pathetic" Raksha mused as she pushed her wet hair back in disgust. Rashel, who was standing next to her, did the same as she agreed with her words. "It doesn't even make sense how we ended up here"

"I could care less how we ended up here. All I want to know is how to get _out!_" Morgead yelled from behind them before coughing loudly. He sniffed feeling his mouth dry before the sudden urge of puking came over him.

"We are all going to get sick if we don't get out of here" Galen announced before everyone silently agreed and started walking as they followed Galen who was trying to lead them out of… whatever sewer they were in.

Jezebel and Thea, who were also with them had already complained about the smell and the annoying and somewhat scary darkness. Things hadn't gone any better when Morgead announced that the smell was coming from all of them because they were completely covered with the sewer water.

Even so, they were all trying to keep thinking positively as they followed Galen closely. Once or twice they would find themselves tripping over random rocks or cracks on the ground, so they definitely got excited once Galen spoke up; "I think I see a way out" Nobody bothered saying anything as Galen kept walking with clear hope in his face. The last place they definitely wanted to stay in was the sewer.

"Stairs, be careful" Galen warned as he nearly tripped over. He was already certain he found the way out.

"I see the light" Morgead joked as he followed right behind Galen after he pushed through Raksha and Rashel. "Finally" With excitement he fastened his speed and ended up pushing pass Galen. Morgead went all the way up the stairs until he reached -surprisingly- a door, not thinking it twice, he pushed it open.

"_Damn_"

The first thing Morgead saw was in fact the blinding lightness, but as soon he managed to blink a few times, his eyes were able to focus on the last thing he was planning on seeing. "This is _fucked_ up" he exclaimed moving away from the door to allow the others to come out.

"What the…?" Jez asked raising her eyebrow.

Rashel and Raksha were dumbfound, all they could really do was look around completely confused. Thea was as confused but she decided to not think much about it, after all the fact that she was covered in sewer water was still bothering her. Galen couldn't even bring himself to do anything as he looked around with a blank look on his face, in contrast to what John and Morgead were doing. Which was pretty much cursing every living thing.

"Fuck this"

-o-

"I said I was sorry!" Completely irritated, Maggie exclaimed before she stood up from the chair she was sitting on, and quickly left towards the building in front of them.

"Maggie!" Mary-Lynnette yelled after failing to stop her. She watched as Maggie entered the building before she turned to stare at the three guys that had caused this. "What's your problem!"

David and Delos looked away as Ash simply shrugged. "That was unnecessary" Gillian agreed from behind them as she looked towards the building Maggie was now in. "You guys should go and apologize"

At the same time the guys turned to look at the building, and they decided to simply stay where they were. Which was under a tree sitting on chairs they had found after getting out of the pool. Yes, a _pool_. One that was shaped like a heart that was filled with crystal clear water.

It had definitely been a great surprise seeing how they had all been in a _store _at least 100 feet under the _sea_, or something similar, so it clearly made no sense how they ended up in a pool not even 20 feet deep.

What came more of a surprise was the fact that they were no longer in the amusement park. At least it didn't look like they were. Now, it just seemed that they were at someone's backyard. Of course, a backyard that had at least 100 trees, seeing how that was the only thing they were able to see apart from the pool and building Maggie was now in.

A building that doesn't even look a bit welcoming.

"She will get over it" David spoke up as Mary-Lynnette and Gillian shook their heads in disappointment.

"You guys had no rights to blame her like that" Gillian murmured as she debated with herself in whether she should go look for Maggie or not.

"We nearly died thanks to her!" Delos accused as Ash nodded in agreement. "I think we had every right!"

"What she did was reckless and un-"

"Oh please!" Mary-Lynnette exclaimed interrupting Ash. "She made a simple mistake. How was she suppose to know the paper was that important?" Once again Ash shrugged as Delos and David looked away. "You guys are pathetic" Irritated and annoyed, Mary-Lynnette stood up from her chair and before anyone could stop her, she started walking towards the building.

"Pathetic?" Delos snorted. "As if."

"More then pathetic" Gillian mumbled before she got up. "You all are insensitive" With a huff she turned around and left towards the building to catch up with Mary-Lynnette.

Watching the two girls leave, David simply rolled his eyes before he mumbled; "_Girls_"

-o-

Morgead couldn't believe his luck.

This just had to happen to him -Okay, maybe it was also happening to Galen, Jez, Thea, Rashel, and Raksha, but still. Morgead was sure this was being done purposely against him.

Why else would he find himself standing around a place filled with _trash_? Because that's what it looked like. Everything around him looked like trash or better yet, garbage. It even stank like garbage- heck, at this point Morgead had no idea what it even was anymore. No garbage could smell _that_ bad, right?

Probably wrong.

"We need to get out of here" Rashel practically cried out as she covered her nose with both her hands. There was chorus of "agree's" before once again Galen started walking, leading the way. Everyone silently followed as they had their personal thoughts keeping their minds occupied.

And a few minutes passed like this, with no one really knowing what to say, complete silence. The only thing they could hear once in a while were their own footsteps, but seeing the situation they were in, it somehow managed to make them feel like ignoring their senses.

Of course, they definitely didn't want to smell anything at the moment, and as they looked around it made them want to be blind. Things weren't looking pretty, that, they could all agree. However, there wasn't much they could do but simply walk until they found a way out, something Galen didn't even think was possible.

He couldn't see anything that wasn't trash. Piles and piles of garbage all around them and if it wasn't that, then it was mud, dirt- or heck, dog _shit_.

This was definitely something Galen never thought of experiencing. Being stranded in a place like _this_… and the worst part was that he didn't even know how he got there. None of them knew, and in a way that brought doubts and questions.

They had been in a store that was rapidly sinking deeper into the ocean a few hours ago. They all even remembered how they had managed to get out of the store, and they could remember trying to swim to the surface, however, it seemed that no one could remember what happened once they reached it.

Its like they blanked out right at that moment, or like if someone took out that piece of their memories. All they knew was that in one minute they were swimming to get out of the ocean and in another, they were waking up in a sewer.

Weird? Yes. Confusing? Yes. Impossible? _Fuck _yes.

If anything, what was happening right now was _more_ then impossible. No matter how many times they thought things over, nothing matched up. They all knew there was a piece of the puzzle missing and as much as they hated admitting it, that piece was slowing making them question their sanity.

Especially Jezebel. She hated this, she hated not knowing what was going on, because after all, she was _Jezebel Kai_. She always knew what was going on, _always_. No matter the situation or the condition, Jezebel knew- she _had _to know, what was happening.

So as she walked right behind Galen looking around, Jezebel couldn't help but to feel so _lost_. Yes, she was literally lost in the middle of nowhere, however the real problem was mentally. Her mind was basically having the hugest dilemma and that was because she didn't know how _things_ just _happened. _

Not only how from the ocean she ended up in a sewer- no. She was wondering about everything that has happened to them so far.

Like she stated before, nothing made sense. The whole facing your fear to get a key made no sense. How they were in a huge indoor amusement park, made no sense. How all of them studied in the same place but yet failed to know at least anything about each other made no sense. Or how water and fire randomly appeared. Or how this had all started with just a simple invitation.

Nothing, made sense.

Jezebel mentally laughed as she remembered a quote in one of her favourite plays. _'Nothing will come of nothing' _King Lear told Cordelia in Shakespeare's play; King Lear after she had denied to exclaim how much she loved him.

Of course, through the whole play the word _nothing _had appeared. It had been a word that foreshadowed, contradicted and even cursed many characters. A very powerful word that at the same time could have '_nothing' _as it's meaning. Now this wasn't a play, Jezebel knew that, but would nothing come out of nothing? How she saw it right now, nothing was definitely not an answer.

_Something_ was going on, and she didn't know how or when- _heck, _or even _why_, but she was going to find out.

"Is that a cabin?" Galen's sudden question made everyone's attention snap towards him. His eyes were set straight towards a small -like he said- cabin.

"I don't really care" Morgead said from behind them. He was covering his nose with his hand yet they could all still see his face full of disgust. "As long as I don't have to smell shit, I'm going in" and as he spoke those words he was already making his way towards the cabin.

Galen, who was pretty much thinking the same thing, didn't even say a word before he started following Morgead. Rashel and Raksha looked at each other as they thought over their options. Deciding that being inside a cabin was better then staying outside smelling that 'shit' (like Morgead put it) they both started making their way to the cabin leaving Thea and Jez.

The two of them had their doubts.

Thea being the type to over think things found herself questioning everything. To be honest the cabin didn't look welcoming at all, and there was always that question; "what is _that _doing in the middle of _this_." Thea wasn't convinced that going in the cabin was a good idea, but there wasn't many other options. Cautiously, she started walking leaving Jez behind.

Jezebel didn't want to go in. She had no desire what so ever and not only because it looked 'scary', but also because there was that _gut_ feeling. Something inside her was telling- _begging_ her not to go in.

Part of her mind thought she knew why, and the other part just kept trying to make her not to think about it. However, it wasn't until Morgead yelled certain words that Jezebel finally convinced herself that she knew what was going on- or what was about to happen.

"Hey! What are you doing there standing like an idiot! Hurry"

It wasn't really what he said, but more like how he said it. With a smile, a teasing voice… and a laugh at the end. That's how Jezebel knew. She knew it was her turn and all she could do was face it.

It was her time to get her key.

-o-

"This, I call life" John casually mentioned as he crossed his feet to place them over Poppy's lap, she wasn't amused.

"I think we should start looking for the others"

"Poppet" James smiled. "Relax and enjoy." Even though James' words seemed to welcoming and fun… Poppy knew better. She pushed John's feet away, ignoring his protest, before she stood up and left towards Hannah's direction.

Hannah was talking to Thierry near a small shop they found, it was almost as small as a snack bar. From where Poppy could see it seemed that Hannah was the only one making conversation seeing how all Thierry was doing was drinking that _thing_.

Beer, was what John, James and Thierry called it, however Hannah and Poppy refused to refer to that _thing_, as beer. It looked like beer, it smelled like beer and neither knew if it tasted like beer but the guys had said it had. They didn't doubt that, however… what beer could make them act like _that_?

Of course, when your drunk you act stupid and in a common way, you don't act like yourself. However, that's usually after having a couple of beers. Non of them had even finished a bottle and since they all mentioned they never got drunk easy (when they found the bottles) both Poppy and Hannah were extremely worried seeing them act how they were right now.

They didn't seem drunk, it was different. It looked like they randomly changed personalities. Sure, they didn't even know them that well to begin with, so they couldn't really judge but even so, their behaviour was unnatural for nineteen year old boys. In fact, they were acting like thirteen year old boys. Naïve, annoying, dumb thirteen year olds.

"Hannah" Poppy said as she stood in between Thierry and Hannah "we need to talk" and with that said she grabbed her hand and immediately started dragging her away ignoring Thierry's protest.

"He has lost his mind" Hannah stated once she knew Thierry couldn't hear her. Poppy ended up stopping seeing how they were pretty far away.

"What makes you think so?" Poppy ask while crossing her arms.

"I don't think, I _know_" once again Hannah stated before sighing. "He told me he wants to stay here forever" Hannah shook her head. "He was completely serious, too. And what I don't understand is that a few minutes ago he was saying how much he wanted to get out!"

"Its those drinks" Poppy said as she mentally cursed herself for being the one to spot them as she walked around trying to get her clothes to dry up.

Sighing, Hannah asked; "What do you suggest we do?"

"For now, we need make them stop drinking that… _beer_. Then, we can look for the others" Poppy thought her small plan over and definitely decided it was a good idea. Hannah nodded, assuring that she found this idea proper and reasonable. Without saying another word, both girls sighed before they started making their way back to the guys, both over thinking the situation.

That's why they never noticed those silver eyes watching.

-o-

"You're positive?" Raksha asked as she crossed her arms after a few minutes of silence. All eyes were on Jezebel as she thought over her answer.

"Yup" she lastly said with a sigh.

"How are you so sure?" Rashel asked looking around. The cabin was starting to give her the freaks, especially after Jezebel told them how this was most likely where she would confront her phobia. Now, they still had no idea what Jezebel's phobia was, and looking around they couldn't really figure it out, however it was more then clear Jez didn't want to talk much about it.

"I just have this feeling"

That wasn't the answer any of them were expecting, however they said nothing. A few minutes passed as silence took over. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable for the matter, it was actually rather comforting. They took the silence to think over things- which seemed to be something they were doing quite often now.

With her mind currently feeling like it was going to explode, Jezebel had her eyes focused on the only window the cabin had. From where she stood she could see the small crack on the top left of the rectangle glass. She didn't have to try to hard to see the spider webs all around the window- _ew, _she hated spiders.

_I hope no one is scared of spiders. _She thought realising that if someone indeed was arachnophobia, she would have to face their phobia with them, technically.

"You don't seem too scared about it" Morgead's random statement caught her off guard. Jezebel turned her head sideways to see him leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

"hm?" Jez blinked as she looked around, only to see that Rashel, Raksha, Thea and Galen were gone, meaning Morgead and her were alone- wait, _where _could the other have gone?

"You know your about to face your _phobia_" Morgead stretched out the last word making Jez silently gulp. "Yet you don't seem scared"

True. She didn't _seem _scared (and in a way it was mostly because she had no idea how on earth she would face her phobia) however, she was currently _terrified_.

"I guess, being scared wont really help…" her voice was soft almost as if she was talking to herself, regardless, Morgead heard her. He eyes her suspiciously and at the same time a little interested. There was something… _unique _about Jez, he decided- and no, it wasn't because she had that striking hair with those brilliant eyes and that curvy body with those long legs. Morgead honestly thought there was something unique with who she was…

… And he wanted to hit himself for thinking that seeing how he didn't exactly know her that well to know _'who she was'_, however from what he _did _know so far (and yes, it wasn't much) he could tell Jezebel was a girl with a tough personality. One that could balance his own personality- if that made sense.

"Where are the others?" Jez asked as she went to stand closer to Morgead- something he wanted to smile at.

"They went to check out the second floor" Morgead answered as he pointed at the staircase in the far right corner. Jez didn't bother looking, she nodded before she went to lean against the wall before sliding down to sit on the floor. Deciding that he was currently too lazy to go to the second floor, Morgead sat down next to Jez.

"So…" he trailed of not really knowing how to start a conversation with Jez right now- what was he suppose to say? Maybe ask about the weather?

"I wish I could just go back to GrayFade." the statement caught Morgead a little by surprise, mostly because of how sad Jez sounded as she spoke.

"What classes are you taking?"

Jezebel turned her head to look at him completely baffled by the question. Smiling, she said; "Math, biology, world religion and philosophy"

"I'm taking world religion too" Morgead smiled seeing how he hadn't screwed up the conversation just yet- something he knew he would end up doing.

"I didn't really want to take it. Actually, the only real reason why I haven't dropped it is because its my easiest subject"

"My easiest would be Art" Morgead said smirking proudly.

With wide eyes, Jezebel stared at him. "You are taking… art?"

"I'm a little offended by the way your looking at me"

"Sorry! You just didn't seem like the type…" Morgead had to laugh at how Jezebel still had her mouth slightly opened. She rolled her eyes once he started hitting his knee as his laughing doubled. "I took art once" Jezebel mentioned softly silencing Morgead. "I dropped it after the first month"

"Why?"

Jezebel froze. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. _She mentally thought as her hands slowly formed into fists. _I had to bring it up- oh god, I just had to bring it up. _Memories slowly started to fill her mind as she tried to keep in blank. She closed her eyes deciding that it would help her concentrate, however all that did was make the memories clearer.

"You okay?" Jezebel heard the concern and worry in Morgead's voice however she chose to ignore it. Breathing in and out she decided to completely ignore everything around her at the moment to keep her mind from thinking about that-

Oh god.

"_Jessie" _

_-o-_

"What the heck?" Raksha asked as she ran down the stairs with both her hands covering her ears. "Where are the laughs coming from?" She asked loudly as she looked around angry and annoyed. "What is ha- _oh shit!_"

Her eyes widened as she finally spotted Morgead and Jezebel in the far left corner. At first, she thought Jezebel was puking because from where she stood she thought she was seeing Morgead pull Jezebels hair back as she had her head leaned down. However as she got closer to them, she saw that she had been completely wrong. Jezebel was not puking, she was _crying_. Crying with her eyes wide open as she had her head in between her legs. What surprised Raksha was seeing Jez's hands covering both her ears, and instead of Morgead pulling her hair back, he had his hands on top of Jez's. As if he was helping her cover her ears.

"Where is that laugh coming from?" Rashel asked as she came down the stairs with Galen and Thea, they were all covering their ears.

"Look" Was all Raksha said before she started making her way towards Jez and Morgead.

"Shit!" Rashel exclaimed before she went to stand next to Raksha. "Morgead what is…?" she trailed of knowing he would understand her question.

"She is _gelotophobic_." To everyone's surprise, it was Galen who answered, and as they turned their attention to him they were able to see why. He was looking at the ceiling where the words, _Key 4; Gelotophobia _were carved in.

"Gelotophobic? She is afraid of… people laughing at her?" Thea asked completely baffled seeing how she could have never imagined Jez, the girl who seemed to have one of the strongest and well built self esteem, being afraid of being laughed at.

"What happened?" Rashel asked as she looked at Morgead ignoring Thea's question.

"I don't know. We were just sitting here talking and then all of a sudden Jezebel just froze" Morgead added a small shrug as he kept his hands covering Jez's hands, which were covering her ears.

"Make it stop" the sudden whispered caught everyone's attention. "_Please_, make it stop"

All eyes looked at Jezebel with complete pity. She looked so miserable and terrified and the tears couldn't seem to stop rolling down her cheeks. Galen felt completely broken as he watched her, and as he looked around he could tell everyone was feeling the same. He gulped silently before he took a deep breath in, then he said; "Morgead, stay with her. The rest of us need to find where that laugh is coming from"

And with a blink of an eye, everyone parted in search of the source making that laugh.

-o-

"_Jessie, is that a monkey? We are suppose to draw dogs!" ha, ha, ha…_

Jez closed her eyes tightly as the image of that brunette laughing with her friends entered her mind. She couldn't help but feeling so stupid. How had she allowed all these memories to start flowing in her mind just like that? She thought she was stronger then that- or better yet, _smarter_.

She had known her turn to face her phobia was close by, she had even warned the others as she constantly tried to avoid anything that would start her phobia. She hadn't been sure of what she was doing seeing how she knew that sooner or later the time would come…

Yet she had tried to fight it. At first she thought the most reasonable way of fighting 'fate' was not to think much about it. And that had affectively worked- that is until Morgead mentioned the subject _art_. _I should have known better. _Jezebel thought as she felt a soft breeze hit her face.

"_My sister says its not lady-like to dye your hair red!"_

"_My mommy says the same thing!"_

"_Why did you do it Jessie? Are you not a lady?"_

"_She looks like a boy!" _

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

_Stop! _Jezebel wanted to yell however she knew there really wasn't a point. After all, what she was hearing, what she was seeing in her mind were all memories. Memories of her childhood- of how everything began. She could do nothing to change those memories, she could do nothing to stop those kids from making fun of her because back then, she was weak.

"_Does your mommy lie to you?"_

"_She must! Does she say your drawings are pretty? Because that's a lie!"_

"_Your mommy lies!"_

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

Anger overcame her. Now she definitely wished she could change those memories. Back then, she couldn't have said anything to stop them- but what was there to say? That her mom didn't lie because she was dead? No! They had no right to know that, they were not worth it- however it would have shut them up. _I hate them. _Jezebel thought as a new memory entered her mind. This one, being more recent.

"_I heard she is an orphan"_

"_She is pretty- maybe that's why she is such a bitch"_

"_She is a whore- Actually, I heard she words at a strip club"_

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

Those comments never really bothered her, after all people were allowed to think whatever they felt like thinking. All the hate and shit those girls talked, had no affect on Jezebel, however, the laughs…

She couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand that annoying sound of a hushed giggles. The small smiles formed by their lips on their faces that would once or twice let a small chuckle escape. She _hated _it! It brought back images of her younger days- of how she would end up crying in the washroom seeing how she had no shoulder to cry on.

_Maybe that's why it hurt so much… _Jez thought as the laughter in the background kept getting a little louder. _Because no one was there…_

"_She can draw?"_

"_She is probably taking this class for an easy credit" _

"_Yeah, I heard she is an academic student, I wonder how she fits her part time job with all the stress most of her classes give her"_

"_Her part time job is not that hard. All she has to do is open her legs, I'm sure she can handle" _

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

"Make it stop!" Jez cried out as she kept hearing the laughter increase. She shook her head trying to get rid of the echo the laughter made while her hands pressed tighter against her ears. Jezebel could feel Morgead's warm hands on hers so she was slightly shocked when the cold suddenly hit. However, before Jez could actually check if Morgead had gone (like she thought) she felt warm arms wrap around her body and before she knew it, her head came crashing against a warm chest.

"We will. Don't worry"

-o-

"Where the heck is it coming from!" Rashel yelled as she came running from the second floor. She had gone already been all over the cabin, and she still couldn't find the source of the laughter.

"I looked everywhere" Raksha added as she came running from outside. "You can hear it outside as well, I walked away a bit, and I could still hear it loud and clear."

"It doesn't matter where we go. We can still hear it, which clearly means…" Galen said coming from behind Raksha.

"…That this is another creepy event with no real answer as to how its possible" Thea concluded coming from behind Rashel. They all turned their attention towards Morgead who nodded at their statement.

"We need to think of a new solution" He was now holding Jezebel tightly against his body as she kept sobbing while she covered her ears. Everyone stayed watching them as they tried to come up with different ideas to make the laughter stop- however it was the same result for all of them. There was nothing they could do. The laughing was clearly part of her Phobia, meaning she had to make it stop. _How? … _they had no idea.

"She is going through the same thing Gillian and Eric went through" Rashel mumbled as she went to stand closer to Morgead and Jez. "Her mind is playing tricks on her and we can actually see- well _hear_, her phobia. However it isn't like James', we aren't exactly living it with her"

"So what do we do?"

"Talk to her." Galen suggested as he looked at Raksha who had asked that question. "Like we talked to Eric and Gillian"

"What should we say? We at least had a clue with Eric and as for Gillian, _well _it was pretty obvious" Raksha stated feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way Galen was looking at her.

"This is a hard one" Thea mumbled after a few seconds knowing that no one had a real answer for Raksha's question.

-o-

"_Her drawings are so gothic- and they are not even that good" _

"_She is such a freak! I heard Kyle was about to ask her out, but then he found out how she really is- ha! He ran! Man, who would want to be with her" _

"_I Feel sorry for her…"_

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

"_Not" _

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

Jez was starting to get annoyed. It wasn't the fact that her fear was slowly eating up her sanity- of the fact that most of her memories had to do with girls bullying her. No. It was the fact that Jez felt like she could have done something to stop them. She felt like she had the opportunity to shut their mouths and yet she never took it.

_Why?_

It was a question that kept popping up and the only answer she could think of was that she had been weak. Weakness… that's what she was blaming everything on. It was all because of her weakness since her childhood.

It hadn't actually been her fault- her weakness had come from losing both her parents. Without them, she had felt so alone and broken- she had no time to be strong. So in her childhood, when they bothered her and specifically laughed at her, Jez never did anything to stop them. She was too caught up living the fact that her parents were gone that she never focused on the fact that she was slowly starting to gain a trauma. One that over the years ended up controlling her life.

She lived afraid of hearing laughter. Terrified of hearing people laughing at _her_. Because in the inside she knew that there was nothing she could do to stop them- but now, as she kept seeing those different memories in her mind, Jezebel finally realised how wrong she had been.

"_Look at that drawing!"_

"_The assignment was meant to be colourful- what was she thinking?"_

"_She is so dumb!"_

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

_I am dumb. _She thought as she tried remembering every detail of the only assignment she ever completed in art class before she dropped the course. The teacher had asked to draw what they loved the most in life and all she had done was draw exactly that. She drew an eagle. An eagle that represented her family- of course she had ran out of colours and that's why she had ended up doing it in black and white, but that shouldn't have mattered!

She did the assignment correctly, so why did those girls laugh at her? They thought her drawing was gothic and that it reflected her depression- no! It was everything but. _I'm so stupid! _She thought realising how dropping that class had never been such a good idea.

Her mom and dad had been an artist, it ran in her blood. Jezebel knew she was a great artist. She had all the confidence she needed, she knew she was talented. But those laughs…

They had scared her. She thought that they would always laugh at her, mostly because there was something wrong with her or her drawings, but now as she saw things, Jezebel knew that wasn't the case. Those girls were just jealous, and Jez should have seen that. Why had she left her self esteem crash down? She wasn't suppose to be weak anymore!

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

But once again.

_Ha. Ha. Ha. _

The laughs…

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

It scared her.

"_She is such a joke"_

"_Quite pathetic if you ask me"_

"_I blame it on the parents, they must have been jokes as well"_

_Ha. Ha. Ha-_

NO!

That small memory rushed through her mind. The last day she had gone to her art class. The words Lily had said. The pain she had felt. The laughs she had heard… and the punch she had given her.

The sweet punch that had marked Lily's face for weeks.

So she had stood up for herself once. Jez could barely remember, but it counted. That day, the laughs had still mattered, they had still scared her, however the anger she felt when she heard Lily say those words… it surpassed any other feelings. But had that been enough to surpass her phobia completely? Jezebel knew that no matter what she could never stop fearing being laughed at- unless… _unless…_

"_Hey! What are you doing there standing like an idiot! Hurry" _

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

The most recent memory. It had only happened an hour ago or less. Morgead had laughed at her, but, it had been _different_. Yes, his laugh made her realize she was next in line to face her phobia, however it had mostly been because of that annoying feeling… but not Morgead's laugh.

Morgead's laugh had been very different. Different because in a way, his laugh had almost been inviting- _actually, _Morgead's laugh could have possibly made Jez laugh because-

_Because _he hadn't been laughing at her. He was aiming to laugh with _her. _

Jezebel knew that her fear had turned to be so strong because she felt vulnerable against it. Just as she knew that there was one solution to that. She need a shoulder. She needed a friends. She needed comfort.

_I'm not weak. _Jez thought as she started to control the tears that were still running down her cheeks. _I'm not weak. _She repeated. "I'm not weak" this time she said it out loud trying to feel the taste of the honesty in those words.

She wasn't weak. At least not anymore. _I'm getting my fucking key_. She thoughts as she tried to push all those evil laughs away- and surprisingly she felt like it was working. _Those laughs cant hold me down forever… _she thought remembering the many ways she could have avoided feeling so scared. If only she had stood up for herself…

"You aren't weak"

Or if only someone had been there to stand up for her…

"You are definitely _not _weak"

She wasn't. Jez was 100 percent sure now. Those laughs, they had all been apart of her childhood trauma. Her phobia, in all honesty was pathetic. With her lips slowly forming a smile, Jez decided that her phobia had been _nothing, _good thing nothing will come of nothing.

-o-

_That is it!_

_Sorry if any mistakes..._

_How many of you are confused? I was! After I read it over... bleh._

_Dont think to much of it! It will make more sense! ha.. ha.. ha..._

_Anywho. I hope I didnt disappoint you guys with this chapter... It was really hard to write and I couldn't quite focus because I have 3 tests coming up... so yeah._

_**Uhm,** someone asked me if I could be a little more clear on the phobias... I didnt quite understand what the person meant. I'm pretty sure that by the end of the chapter its pretty clear what the phobia is... as for how I let you guys know what the next phobia (chapter) will be about, I dont write the meaning because I leave it as a mystery. For those of you who are really curious, you will probably google it. If not, you will wait for the chapter... but yeah._

_Chapter 2: Nyctophobia- fear of darkness_

_Chapter 3: Pyrophobia- Fear of fire _

_Chapter 4: Thalassophobia- fear of ocean _

_Chapter 5: Gelotophobia- Fear of being laughed at._

_**Thanks for reading!**_

_Review?_

_Please?_

_=D?_

_-Maria_

_**God Bless You!**_

_Next Chapter: Necrophobia_


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